Letters | Coronavirus crisis shows why China’s history of silencing truth-tellers must end
- Telling the truth was and remains a dangerous thing to do in China, as the plight of whistle-blower Li Wenliang confirmed. This muzzling just harms the people in the long run
Several years later, during the Cultural Revolution, thousands of academics and intellectuals would be subjected to extreme punitive torture. The whole decade was a catastrophe, imbued with lies and fallacies that relentlessly sent China along harm’s way.
Today, history seems to be repeating itself. In his letter to The New York Times, “Communist China Cannot Be Trusted”, Florida’s Republican Senator Rick Scott pointed out that Beijing first responded to the Covid-19 outbreak by doing “what it does best: silence critics and detain people accused of spreading rumours”.
It is easier for many in Chinese society not to tell the truth, and it especially suits those at the helm of the nation.
Evidently, for the sake of self-preservation or face, more frequently than not, it is easier for many in Chinese society not to tell the truth, and it especially suits those at the helm of the nation. But this would normally harm the public at large in the long run.
As highlighted by Senator Scott and believed by many, even to this day, telling the truth can be a dangerous thing to do in China.
Here in our city, freedom of speech is what Hongkongers are still relishing.
It is my dream that it will prevail in the whole of China in the not-too-distant future.
Randy Lee, Ma On Shan