Li Wenliang, a former physician at Wuhan Central Hospital who died after contracting the disease, was one of the first “whistle blowers” in Wuhan, Hubei province, a year ago, but he was “admonished” by authorities. On the first anniversary of Li’s “whistle blowing,” the National Security Council paid tribute to Li on its official Twitter account, noting that countless deaths could have been prevented if his warnings had been heeded.
On Dec. 31, the NSC tweeted that a year ago today, Dr. Li Wenliang warned other medical personnel on social media about an unknown case of pneumonia in the Wuhan area. And Chinese authorities censored him and forced him to admit to spreading rumors and disrupting social order. A few weeks later, Dr. Li died of the disease. If his warnings had been heeded, countless deaths could have been prevented.
A year ago, Li Wenliang said he saw a patient’s test report that detected a high confidence positive indicator for the Sars (SARS) coronavirus and posted a message in his circle of friends that a virus similar to Sars (SARS) had appeared in Wuhan and warned his peers to be aware of protection. This day is considered to be the day when Li Wenliang blew the whistle.
During the New Year of 2020, Wuhan’s public security authorities announced the so-called “admonishment” of eight rumor-mongers for spreading false information that would disrupt society. Only afterwards did people learn that the so-called rumor-mongers were actually doctors working at Wuhan Hospital, one of whom was Dr. Li Wenliang. Li Wenliang became known to the public when he was interviewed by the media from his hospital bed after contracting the disease.
On February 1, Li Wenliang announced through his Weibo account that he had been diagnosed with the New Coronavirus and died five days later. His Weibo account was thus fixed on February 1, but the comments below did not stop for a day.
Li Wenliang’s death shook all of China and the world. In China, Li Wenliang’s death caused strong repercussions and was seen as a victim of the Communist authorities’ suppression of freedom of expression and concealment of the epidemic. The public believes that what really killed him was the official lie of concealing the epidemic. Many netizens have left comments under Li Wenliang’s microblog and launched a wave of memorials on major social media outlets.
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