India, Dec. 29 -- The Covid-19 pandemic emerged from a public health crisis in central China, but its transformation into a global catastrophe was shaped by political decisions taken far from hospital wards. China's early response reflected a governing culture in which political authority, narrative control and leadership image took precedence over rapid disclosure and professional judgment. Those priorities, reinforced over the past decade under Xi Jinping, played a decisive role in how the outbreak unfolded.

By the time Covid-19 appeared, Xi was on the fag end of reshaping the Chinese Communist Party to unprecedented levels of centralisation. Term limits were removed, internal dissent narrowed, and loyalty became a central measure of a...