Has China learned its lesson from the coronavirus tragedy? Judging by its continued censorship, no

Official responses following Li Wenliang’s death show little sign Beijing realises that the muzzling of information has life-and-death consequences for the world. An unrepentant China may leave the world no choice but to decouple

Billy Huang

Published: 8:35am, 20 Mar 2020

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The Covid-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll, with more than 9,000 people dead, including over 3,200 in China alone. But has China learned its lessons from the tragedy, to put its people’s lives before anything else and regain the world’s trust?

Given what happened to the whistle-blower-turned-national-hero Dr Li Wenliang, my answer is no. Li – one of eight doctors who attempted to alert the public about the coronavirus outbreak, only to be reprimanded by local police – died on February 7.

Li’s death triggered huge waves of demand for freedom of speech across Chinese society and Beijing, on the day of his death, took the unusual move of sending an investigation team to Wuhan to look into “issues of public concern relating to Li Wenliang”. Yet, six weeks passed before any results were released to the public.

Second, Xinhua reporter Liao Jun took to the stage in Wuhan at a press conference organised by China’s State Council on March 8, and was hailed a “hero” for her frontline coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. But it was Liao who wrote a series of stories alleging that Li and other whistle-blowers were spreading rumours, and dismissing the risk of human-to-human transmission in the early days of the epidemic.

Xinhua reporter Liao Jun interviews a person outside Wuchang Hospital on February 18. Photo: Xinhua

This absurdity sparked an online backlash against Liao and Beijing, only to be deleted and blocked by internet censors.

Third, Li got into trouble for sharing a diagnostic report from a colleague in the same hospital which showed that a highly contagious disease like severe acute respiratory syndrome may have been found in patients. That colleague, Dr Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, recently told Chinese magazine People that immediately after she sent the alert to colleagues on December 30, she was summoned and muzzled by the authorities.

People later removed the interview from its WeChat account and nearly all articles about her were deleted from China’s cyberspace.

Can we believe that, given another chance, authorities would not do something similar again? It is wishful thinking to believe Li’s case is an isolated one.

The 2003 Sars epidemic infected more than 8,000 and killed over 800, according to the World Health Organisation. Beijing tried to cover that up as well but later made it up to the world by firing high-profile officials, including the health minister and Beijing mayor. Then-president Hu Jintao admitted China was responsible.

“I felt as if my heart were on fire as the state leader,” Hu said at the 2003 Apec summit in Bangkok. “As leaders of China, we could not account to the 1.3 billion people in this country and we would even feel responsible to the people of the whole world if we could not control this epidemic effectively and if we sat idly by and saw the spread of this dangerous disease to other parts of the world.”

The world has not seen a similar attitude in 2020. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claims the US army may have brought the virus to Wuhan, earning more than 4.7 million reads on weibo and, up to the end of last week, most netizens were supportive.

Maybe these digital warriors, known as little pinks, are not totally wrong in one sense. Maybe the Western world and Beijing, suffering from amnesia, co-produced the whole show.

In Europe, Italy took the lead in joining the Belt and Road Initiative in the hope that Chinese capital will save it from an economic quagmire. When President Xi Jinping visited Italy in March 2019, a Chinese diplomat told a local Il Foglio reporter not to write anything bad about China, with the threat: “I know very well who you are.” Italy now has the highest coronavirus death toll, surpassing China’s, with more than 3,400 deaths and 41,000 infections.

It seems the coronavirus outbreak will hurt every country, whether a democracy like Italy or a repressive autocracy like Iran. After China and Italy, Iran has the most confirmed cases, more than 17,000. In its holy city of Qom, a centre of contagion, a US$2.7 billion high-speed railway is being built by Chinese technicians and workers, and a nuclear power station refurbished with China’s help.

Iran blames the outbreak on either an Iranian businessman who returned from Wuhan or Chinese workers. Recently, a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard general suggested it may be part of American biological warfare.

Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei, 78, a member of the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader, is the latest Iranian official to die from the coronavirus. Many cabinet ministers, members of parliament and military officers have also been infected, including the health minister.

Freedom of speech comes with a price. The pandemic proves clearly that it is a life-and-death issue. It is an excruciating, teeth-grinding journey to contemplate whether the world should recouple with China after the pandemic. My time in China and personal affection for Chinese culture speak in its favour.

But, on balance, I think not. If China continues to clamp down on free expression of different voices, it leaves the world no other choice than to decouple, for the benefit of all mankind. I hope the world will not let Li Wenliang die in vain.

Billy Huang has served media outlets in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States for more than 20 years. [email protected]

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