While once they make up their minds to act they can be extraordinarily effective, getting to that point can be a mess. For a while they suppressed information

While once they make up their minds to act they can be extraordinarily effective, getting to that point can be a mess. For a while they suppressed information about what was going on in the region, suppressed information to the outside world about the virus, and generally said "Everything is fine" delaying their response. Now, to their credit, once they committed they did an excellent job. And the population has complied in amazing fashion. But the slow-moving party has a weakness that it won't broadcast when things are starting to go wrong until they can't ignore it any longer. You can also imagine what would have happened if they continued to lock up critics for even longer. Enlightened authoritarians only work if they are, well, enlightened. Once corruption seeps in those same levers of power can be exploited for personal and Party gain.