Chinese military surgeon who blew the whistle on Sars cover-up dies at 91
- Jiang Yanyong died from pneumonia and other illnesses on Saturday in the PLA hospital where he worked for decades, sources say
- He became a national hero in 2003 when he revealed the government had covered up the extent of the deadly outbreak in Beijing
Jiang Yanyong, the military surgeon who blew the whistle on a cover-up of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, died in Beijing on Saturday. He was 91.
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Sars 2003: The first coronavirus to spark a Hong Kong public health crisis
Jiang, who was the PLA hospital’s chief surgeon before he retired, became a national hero in 2003 when he revealed that the Chinese authorities had covered up the extent of the deadly Sars outbreak in Beijing.
In April of that year, Jiang told Time magazine he was angered and shocked by then-health minister Zhang Wenkang’s claim that there were only a dozen people being treated for Sars in Beijing at the time. He spoke to his colleagues and discovered at least 60 people being treated for the virus in the hospital where he worked, seven of whom had died.
Before he spoke to foreign media, Jiang had written to two mainland Chinese outlets – Phoenix Television and China Central Television – about his discovery but his letter was ignored. It was then obtained by foreign media.
It was a bombshell that saw Beijing come under intense international and domestic pressure, prompting an effort by the authorities to shift the narrative. About two weeks later Zhang and Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong were fired. The authorities also released a new tally of cases that was 10 times higher than the official figure given in early April – it said there were more than 300 confirmed cases and 400 suspected cases as of April 20.
A huge campaign was also rolled out to fight the epidemic, which ended up claiming nearly 800 lives worldwide.