Li Wenliang: an ‘ordinary hero’ at the centre of the coronavirus storm
- In a self-criticism to his employer, Li said he had no authority to ‘release inaccurate information’
- He promised to keep in line with the Communist Party ‘in thought and action’
Li was widely believed to be one of the eight people reprimanded by public security officers in the early days of the outbreak in December for “spreading rumours” in Wuhan in the central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the epidemic.
On his 33rd birthday a few months earlier, Li wrote online that his resolution was to be a simple person, and to maintain peace of mind.
However, a “self-criticism” he was made to write to his employer, Wuhan Central Hospital, and seen by the South China Morning Post suggests how much he may have suffered.
“I compared [my behaviour] with the Communist Party’s constitution, party regulations and the spirit of a series of speeches [by party leaders], reflected on myself, and made profound self-criticism,” Li, a party member, wrote in the statement dated December 31.