[Zhang Fei]

[A crisis like this is a perfect pretext for Winnie the Pooh to enact extreme executive powers and completely lock-down the country.]

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While his title is President (and more importantly, Chairman of the Central Military Commission aka Commander-in-Chief), Xi Jinping is basically an emperor, meaning he can literally have *anyone* summarily executed. This crisis potentially weakens him rather than makes him more powerful. Troop movements can be utilized for purposes other than carrying out the head honcho’s orders. But it would take a mixture of daring and skill reminiscent of Yeltsin’s ascent to power. Even Beria had to wait until Stalin was dead (although he was rumored to have poisoned Uncle Joe) before making his move. And Beria lost out to Khrushchev.

[drop 50 and fire for effect]

Correct, while Mr. Xi is the most powerful person in the party, he is still part of an oligarchy, not an absolute ruler. Other people want his jobs or fear a cult of personality. A crisis like this, If mishandled, makes him vulnerable.

Worst case, unlikely but possible, is that this is so botched, that the mishandling of this undermines the party’s legitimacy and triggers open conflict between factions/regions.

[Bobibutu]

You may find this interesting and informative:
This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ww2010.weblog.htm#e200125

China’s coronavirus spreads across China and around the world
Xi Jinping may lose the Mandate from Heaven

[Fai Mao]

Thank you for injecting some facts into the conspiracies thrown about in these threads