ON THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF DR. LI WENLIANG’S PASSING.
When Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan coronavirus whistleblower, died on February 7, 2020 China’s social media exploded with the trending hashtag of #IWantFreedomOfSpeech.
Dr. Li warned his associates on December 30, 2019 about a new SARS coronavirus among patients at his hospital but he was accused of “spreading rumor” by the Wuhan police and made to sign a confession.
Visual Artists Guild honored Dr. Li posthumously with the Champion for Freedom of Speech during our annual Tiananmen commemoration in 2020.
Dr. Li Wenliang’s case showed that the right of freedom of speech is not only important to public health but to an individual’s survival. Had the CCP authorities taken Dr. Li Wenliang’s warning seriously, the pandemic may not have spread so quickly to causing more than 8 million deaths around the world.
The problem with CCP authorities is that their first reaction to any suspected issues within the society is first denial or coverup and then followed by charging the individual of “spreading rumor” or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
CCP functionaries don’t seem to have independent thoughts due to their culture of fear of being blamed, criticized or even purged. This culture prevents problems from being addressed such as Covid 19.
The right of freedom of speech is not only important for public health, it allows for transparency and accountability within authorities, and frees individuals from the fear of speaking the truths.
Often children lie because they fear the punishment; the CCP functionaries have yet to have grown up to be adults.
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