Celebration and mourning. Medical workers from Jilin University cheer before boarding a flight out of Wuhan on April 8. Four days earlier President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang bow their heads to the coronavirus's victims. (Nikkei Montage; source photos by EPA/Jiji and Xinhua/AP)

Wuhan liberated, but Xi's virus victory day remains elusive

Asymptomatic carriers stand in the way of president's 'exit strategy'

KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer

April 9, 2020 04:00 JST

TOKYO -- After 76 days in lockdown, the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the initial epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reopened its doors allowing planes, trains and cars to leave the city.

But the doors only opened half way. People are still forbidden to fly from Wuhan to Beijing. That is because the capital is trying to hold the delayed annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, to which the country's top officials gather from across the country.