Mixed messages from top China leaders feed speculation of Xi-Li split

The lockdown-dependent strategy has resulted in sustained social tensions in the country's largest city, Shanghai. - Bloomberg

BEIJING (Bloomberg): Premier Li Keqiang’s warning of China’s "complicated and grave” employment situation on Saturday was particularly dire, even for someone who has sounded the alarm for months. But it was also notable another reason: It didn’t mention President Xi Jinping’s Covid Zero strategy.

Just days earlier, the Politburo Standing Committee -- on which both Xi and Li sit -- warned China’s citizens not to question Covid-control policies that have locked down cities across the country, including Shanghai. That statement, by contrast, contained no mention of the economy.