DOCTOR WHO EXPOSED VIRUS DIES
The death of a whistleblowing doctor, whose early warnings about China’s new coronavirus outbreak were suppressed by the police, has unleashed a wave of anger at the government’s handling of the crisis — and bold demands for more freedom.
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was among eight physicians who sounded the alarm about the virus in late December, only to be reprimanded and censored by the authorities in central Hubei province.
After Li’s death was confirmed early Friday, the 34-year- old doctor was lionized as a hero on social media, while officials were vilified for letting the epidemic spiral into a national health crisis instead of listening to the doctor.
But many also used the occasion to demand more liberties in the Communist Party-ruled country, with phrases “I want freedom of speech” and “we demand freedom of speech” appearing on Twitter-like Weibo before being censored.
“Chinese people are only allowed one kind of freedom, and that is the freedom given by the country and the Communist Party,” commented one Weibo user. “But clearly it is us who should be the masters of this country’s laws.”
Local authorities in Hubei and its capital Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the crisis, had already faced rare, uncensored criticism online in recent weeks for initially downplaying the magnitude of the outbreak.
While the World Health Organization and some experts have heaped praise on China, saying it took decisive steps to try to contain the virus, critics say precious time was lost by the early inaction of the local government.
Hubei and Wuhan officials held key political meetings in the first weeks of January. The death toll and number of cases only began to soar afterward, going from one fatality on January 11 to more than 630 barely four weeks later.
Li, who was diagnosed with the virus on February 1, said in a Weibo post in late January that local police had forced him to sign a statement agreeing not to commit any more “lawbreaking actions.”