This was Xi in December 2006, when he was Party chief of Zhejiang — rather interesting in retrospect of the current Covid situation/confusion in China.

“No matter how correct our policies are, if they aren’t understood by the masses, they will be difficult to implement. If the masses don’t listen to you, then first you must follow the masses at first. If the masses want to jump into a fire pit, you must follow them and jump into the fire pit. And after the masses have gained consciousness and begun climbing out of the fire pit, they will still follow you in the end. If they jump and you don’t, you’re creating schism between the cadres and the masses. If you jump with them, you will build close bonds with them, and our work will become easier.”

我们的方针再正确，如果不被群众理解，也难以贯彻施行。如果群众不听，你就先跟着群众走，群众跳火坑，你也跟着跳下去。群众觉悟了，从火坑里爬出来，最终还是要跟你走。群众跳，你不跳，干群关系就疏远了。你一起跳，感情上拉近了，工作就好做了。