The story of Dr Li Wenliang was a big, suppressed story in China in February 2020. The New York Times already started reporting it on 1 February. Dr Li was a 34- year old ophthalmologist from Wuhan, and had one child. He and his wife were expecting a second child in the summer of 2020.
On 30 December 2019, Dr Li issued a
warning about the mysterious illness. “Quarantined in the emergency department”,
he wrote about the patients in his hospital on an online chat group. His
message emphasized that a very contagious virus resembling SARS was active;
everyone should take care, and let everyone in the family pay attention to
preventing the spread.
Though he wrote it to his medical school classmates,
his post went viral across the Chinese social media. “So frightening. Is SARS
coming again?” asked one person.
On 3 January,
in the middle of the night, the Wuhan health authority officials summoned Dr
Li, and demanded to know why he had shared that information. He was taken to
the police station, and detained for spreading false rumours. He was forced to
sign a police document admitting he had seriously disrupted social order and
breached the law. In exchange for signing the statement, he would not be
arrested. That was enough to make Dr Li sign it.
On 8 January, he treated an 82-year old lady for acute
glaucoma. He couldn’t know she had already been infected with coronavirus,
probably by her daughter. On 10 January,
the woman and her daughter developed high fever. Dr Li started coughing, and
was soon admitted to the intensive care unit.
*****
Dr Li Wenliang had already become a hero for issuing
an early warning to those on social media. On
31 January, he published on social media his experience in the police
station, and the letter of admonition. His post went viral, and users began
questioning why he was silenced by the authorities.
While still in the ICU, with the mask on, he was
interviewed by the New York Times and
some Chinese newspapers. “If the officials had disclosed information about the
epidemic earlier,” Dr Li told the Times,
“I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness and transparency.
“I think a healthy society should not have just one
voice, and I don’t approve of using public power for excessive interference.” He
told Caixin, a Chinese magazine, courageous
enough to report aggressively about the epidemic.
The Caixin
and Southern Metropolis Daily reports
have surprisingly survived Chinese censorship. “After I recover, I want to
return to the front line. The epidemic is still spreading, and I don’t want to
be a deserter” Dr Li told the Southern
Metropolitan Daily. That was the last interview he gave.
On 7 February,
Dr Li Wenliang died of coronavirus.
*****
His death sparked outrage among Chinese internet
users. Censors were shocked at the scale of criticism. Many blamed the
government and the Chinese Communist Party. China’s powerful anti-corruption
body sent investigators to Wuhan for “a comprehensive investigation into the
problems reported by the public concerning Doctor Li Wenliang”. A report was
delivered in March 2020, which found that Dr Li had not disrupted public order,
and that he was a professional who fought bravely and made sacrifices. The
report said Li had not verified the information before sending it. The key
recommendation was to withdraw the reprimand. Dr Li was posthumously officially
exonerated.
This news was read on Weibo, (Chinese Twitter), by
over 160 million. “Is that it?” said one user. “They might as well have not
said anything.
Following his exoneration, Dr Li’s family received reimbursement
of his funeral expenses, and compensation for a workplace injury. In June 2020,
Dr Li’s widow gave birth to a second son.
*****
Ravi
A hero.
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