Author still dealing with backlash over Wuhan Diary on city’s fight against Covid-19
- Fang Fang says her book was an attempt to share a truthful, personal account of events in the Chinese city where the coronavirus was first identified
- But since its publication in English – it remains unpublished in Chinese – she says she ‘never could have imagined the things that have happened, either the catastrophe that is the pandemic or the online harassment’
She wrote what became known as Wuhan Diary , a book about life in the city of 11 million during a lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19. Even though the book was never approved for publication in China, it became the catalyst for a campaign that led to fierce online criticism of Fang that continues to this day.
In an email interview, Fang, 65, said the book was an attempt to share a truthful, personal account of events. It was translated and published in English, German and Japanese just as the pandemic poisoned relations between Beijing and Washington, politicising the cause of the disease, and stoking nationalism in China.
The author, whose real name is Wang Fang, said she was still unable to publish a Chinese-language version of Wuhan Diary or any new works in China. But she spoke of the online attacks that followed the book’s publication overseas in May and repeated calls for accountability among officials for what she called the early mishandling of the outbreak.
“My biggest feeling has been surprise. I never could have imagined the things that have happened, either the catastrophe that is the pandemic or the online harassment,” she said.
Wuhan Diary contains praise for the health care workers, community workers and volunteers who saved lives, and explains the sense of solidarity that grew among the people of Wuhan. But the mishandling of the pandemic response is a consistent theme and officials are described as having blood on their hands and the author calls for those responsible to resign.