Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times felt that Xi 's crackdown on journalism led to misinformation , inaction and therefore spread of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic in mainland China .
This has been attributed to the censorship institutional structure of the country 's press and Internet , with Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times and Jude Blanchette of the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggesting that it was exacerbated by Xi Jinpings crackdown on independent oversight such as journalism that left senior officials with inaccurate information on the outbreak and `` contributed to a prolonged period of inaction that allowed the virus to spread '' .
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in mainland China