TOKYO -- At the end of last year, the Chinese Communist Party held an important two-day meeting of the powerful 25-member Politburo.

An end-of-year Communist Party Politburo meeting lavished praise on General Secretary Xi Jinping's handling of a once-in-a-century crisis, blaming any problems on outside forces. (Nikkei Montage/ Source photo by Reuters and Xinhua/ Kyodo)
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