News Snapshot:
Late last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping confronted a wave of protests in cities across the country decrying his zero-tolerance Covid-19 controls—a rare rebuke of his centralization of power that included, in some cases, calls for him to step down. Three months later, he is pressing to further concentrate Communist Party control. Mr. Xi and senior Chinese officials this week agreed to plans to give the party more direct command in an array of areas they see as critical, including security, finance, technology and culture, while further diluting the government’s role in policy-making, according to people familiar with the discussions....
