1. Individuals Detained for Sharing Information Online About the COVID-19 Outbreak
Throughout
January 2020 China's government continued to punish people for sharing
information online about COVID-19. Here are some examples:
Police Report
Recently,
during the nationwide fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia
epidemic, Wang Doe, Liu Doe, and Wang Doe #3 fabricated and spread
rumors on the Internet and were subjected to administrative detention by
the police.
On January 23, Wang Doe (female, 35 years old, from
Shapingba District) spread rumors in a friends circle that "Chongqing
Shapingba, Jiangbei District, and Yubei District has imposed controls."
On the same day, Liu Doe (male, 26 years old, from Tongliang District)
spread a rumor that "Panxi and Shimahe areas in Jiangbei have been
closed off by the police" in a WeChat group. An investigation found that
Wang Doe and Liu Doe fabricated and spread rumors based on hearsay in
order to attract people's attention, and created panic. They were
subjected to administrative detention by the Nan'an and Jiangbei police,
respectively. On January 24, Wang Doe #3 (female, 27 years old, from
Shapingba District) saw information related to government departments'
prevention and handling of the epidemic on the Internet, and fabricated
and spread rumors out of context to attract people's attention, causing a
pernicious influence. She was subjected to administrative detention by
the Yongchuan police.
The police reiterated that the Internet is
not a place outside the law, and public security agencies will
investigate and deal with illegal activities involving fabricating and
spreading rumors and disrupting public order. It is hoped that the
majority of Internet users will not believe or spread rumors, jointly
maintain a good online environment, and unite and fight the epidemic
together.
Source:
Screenshot of the Chongqing Public Security official Weibo Account from
"Three people spread rumors of the epidemic and were administratively
detained by Chongqing police" [3人散布疫情谣言，被重庆警方行政拘留], January 25, 2020,
https://www.guancha.cn/politics/2020_01_25_533127.shtml.
Information Bulletin
On
November 23, 110 received a police report saying that someone had
posted information in a WeChat group to deliberately exaggerate the
number of new coronavirus pneumonia infections in the country and this
city. On January 24, the Jinnan Branch of the Public Security Bureau
apprehended the suspect Gao Doe (female, 34 years old, Tianjin). Gao
confessed to fabricating information and spreading it in WeChat groups.
Now Gao has been subjected to five days administrative detention in
accordance with the law.
The
public security agency reiterated that the Internet is not a place
outside the law, and every citizen is responsible for their speech and
must abide by national laws and regulations. Public security organs will
resolutely investigate and punish those who openly spread rumors.
Internet users are requested not to believe in or spread rumors, and
work together to keep cyberspace clean.
January 24, 2020
2. Doctor Li Wenliang [李文亮]
 |
Source: Baidu search result on the day Dr. Li Wenliang died.
|
On
December 31, 2019, the Hubei government posted the following
announcement on its website
(http://www.hubei.gov.cn/zxjy/rdhy/201912/t20191231_1822539.shtml):
Wuhan
Municipal Health Commission Notice on the Pneumonia Outbreak: Initially
Identified as Viral Pneumonia, No Human-to-Human Transmission
Release time: 2019-12-31 14:09 Source: Wuhan Municipal Health Commission
Recently,
some medical institutions found that many cases of pneumonia were
connected to the South China Seafood Market. After receiving reports,
the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission immediately carried out case
searches and retrospective investigations related to South China Seafood
Market in the city’s medical and health institutions. Twenty-seven
cases have been found, of which 7 are in serious condition, and the
remaining cases are in stable and controllable condition, and 2 cases
are expected to be discharged in the near future. The clinical
manifestations of the cases were mainly fever, a few patients had
difficulty breathing, and chest radiographs showed infiltrating foci of
both lungs. At present, all cases have been treated in isolation,
follow-up investigation and medical observation of close contacts are
underway, and hygienic investigation and environmental sanitation
treatment of the South China Seafood Market is underway.
Wuhan
City organized consultations with clinical medicine, epidemiology, and
virology experts from Tongji Hospital, the Provincial Center for Disease
Control and Prevention, the Wuhan Institute of Virology,the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, the Wuhan Infectious Disease Hospital, and the
Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, no obvious
person-to-person transmission has been found in the investigation, and
no medical staff infection has been found. At present, the detection of
the pathogen and the investigation of the cause of infection are
underway.
Viral
pneumonia is more common in winter and spring, and the spread can be
sporadic or explosive. The main clinical manifestations are fever, body
aches, a small number of breathing difficulties, and lung infiltration.
Viral pneumonia is related to the virulence of the virus, the route of
infection, and the age and immune status of the host. Viruses that cause
viral pneumonia are influenza viruses. The others are parainfluenza
viruses, cytomegaloviruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and
coronaviruses. The diagnosis depends on pathogenic tests, including
virus isolation, serological tests, and virus antigen and nucleic acid
tests. The disease is preventable and controllable, for prevention
maintain indoor air circulation, avoid closed public places and crowded
places with poor air circulation, and wear masks when going out.
Clinically, symptomatic treatment is the main treatment, and bed rest is
required. If you have the above symptoms, especially if the fever
persists, you should go to a medical institution in a timely manner.
(Wuhan Municipal Health Commission)
It appears there were two versions of this notice posted on the Hubei government website. The other version, posted at
http://wjw.hubei.gov.cn/fbjd/dtyw/201912/t20191231_1822343.shtml,
was no longer available as of December 8, 2020. That version was
identical to the one shown above, with the following exceptions:
- It was posted at 13:38 on December 31, 2019.
- The
title was "Wuhan Municipal Health Commission Notice Regarding the
Status of Our City's Ongoing Pneumonia Outbreak."
[武汉市卫健委关于当前我市肺炎疫情的情况通报]
- The reference to the "Wuhan Municipal Health Commission" in the second sentence was the "Municipal Health Commission."
At 5:38 pm on January 1, 2020, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau published the following on its official Sina Weibo:
[8
rumor spreaders were investigated and dealt with in accordance with the
law] Recently, some medical institutions in our city found that they
had received multiple cases of pneumonia, and the Municipal Health
Commission issued a report on this. However, some Internet users
published and forwarded false information on the Internet without
verification, causing adverse social effects. After investigation and
verification, the public security agencies summoned eight individual who
violated the law and dealt with them in accordance with the law. The
police reminds everyone that the Internet is not a place outside the
law. Publishing information and speech on the Internet should comply
with laws and regulations. The police will, in accordance with the law,
investigate and deal with illegal acts of fabricating, publishing, and
spreading rumors and disrupting social order, and will not tolerate
them. It is hoped that the majority of Internet users will abide by
relevant laws and regulations, and will not fabricate rumors, believe
rumors, or spread rumors, and will build a harmonious and clean
cyberspace together.
At 8:11 pm the same day the Hubei government reposted that information on their website.
At 11:40 am on January 2, 2020, China's official state television news station broadcast this information nationwide.
Later that evening, government sponsored television news outlets in various provinces featured the story as well.
At
10:09 pm on January 02, 2020, China's state sponsored media outlet
SixthTone published an English language report titled "8 Accused of
‘Spreading Rumors’ Amid Wuhan Pneumonia Outbreak." According to that
report:
When
Sixth Tone called the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on Thursday, a
staff member said she did not know when the first infections were
reported. Staff at the provincial and municipal disease control centers
said it was “inconvenient” to comment. Several users on microblogging
platform Weibo responded angrily in the comments section under the
police notice. 'People spread rumors precisely because the authorities
didn’t respond in a timely manner — so how can we be blamed?' one user
wrote. 'Don’t I have the right to know the truth, be afraid, and try to
save myself?'
In
a series of tweets between January 2 and January 6, David Paulk, head
of news at SixthTone, reported that that story had been "pulled" shortly
after it was published.
At 10:19 am on January 31, 2020, David Paulk, head of news at SixthTone, tweeted that that article had in fact been "censored."
That article originally appeared at
http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005033/8-accused-of-spreading-rumors-amid-wuhan-pneumonia-outbreak. It was archived by the Internet Archive here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200103063023/http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005033/8-accused-of-spreading-rumors-amid-wuhan-pneumonia-outbreak.
At 12:14 pm on January 31, 2020, Dr. Li Wenliang posted the following on his personal Sina Weibo (xiaolwl - https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4466768535861595):
Hello everyone, I am Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central
Hospital. On December 30th, I saw a patient's test report that detected a
high-confidence positive indicator of the SARS coronavirus. In order to
remind my classmates to pay attention and protect themselves, and
because my classmates are also clinicians, I posted news stating that "7
cases of SARS were confirmed" in a [WeChat] group. After the news was
sent, on January 3rd, the Public Security Bureau found me and I signed a
letter of reprimand. I have been working normally since then. After
receiving patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia, I started to have
cough symptoms on January 10, fever on the 11th, and was hospitalized on
the 12th. At that time, I was still thinking about why it was reports
were still saying that there was no human-to-human transmission, and
there was no infection among medical workers. Later, I was admitted to
the ICU. I had a nucleic acid test previously, but the results never
came out. After undergoing treatment, I was tested again recently, and
my nucleic acid was negative, but I still have difficulty breathing and
cannot be active. My parents are also in the hospital. In the ward, I
also saw the support and encouragement from many Internet users, and my
mood became somewhat lighter. Thanks for everyone's support. I want to
clarify here that I have not had my license revoked. Please rest assured
that I will actively cooperate with the treatment and strive to be
discharged early! Wuhan, Wuhan Central Hospital.
大家好，我是武汉市中心医院眼科医生李文亮。12月30日，我看到一份病人的检测报告，检出SARS冠状病毒高置信度阳性指标，出于提醒同学注意防护的角度，因为我同学也都是临床医生，所以在群里发布了消息说“确诊了7例SARS”。消息发出后，1月3日，公安局找到我并签了训诫书。之后我一直正常工作，在接诊了新冠病毒肺炎患者后，1月10号我开始出现咳嗽症状，11号发热，12号住院。
那时候我还在想通报怎么还在说没有人传人，没有医护感染，后来住进了ICU，之前做了一次核酸检测，但一直没出结果。经过治疗最近又进行一次检测，我的核酸显示为阴性了，但目前仍然呼吸困难，无法活动。我的父母也在住院中。在病房里，我也看到很多网友对我的支持和鼓励，我的心情也会轻松一些，谢谢大家的支持。在此我想特别澄清，我没有被吊销执照，请大家放心，我一定积极配合治疗，争取早日出院！
武汉·武汉市中心医院
His post included two photos of the documents referred to in his post - the medical report, and the reprimand letter.
The reprimand letter read as follows:
Zhongnan Precinct, Public Security Bureau of Wuchang, Wuhan
Letter of Reprimand
Wu Public (Central) No. (20200103)
Reprimandee Li Wenliang_Gender Male_Birth Year and Month [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
ID Number and Type [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
Current Address (Household Registration Location) Wuhan [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
Work Unit Wuhan Central Hospital
Illegal
Act(s) (Time, Location, Participants, Number of Participants, Issues
Reported, Consequences, etc.) On December 30, 2019, published false
statements about 7 cases of SARS confirmed in the South China Fruit and
Seafood Market in the WeChat group "[OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]."
You
are hereby issued a warning and reprimand in accordance with the law
with respect to the illegality of your untruthful remarks on the
Internet. Your behavior seriously disrupted social order. Your behavior
has exceeded the boundaries of what is legally permitted and violated
the relevant provisions of the Public Security Administrative
Punishments Law of the People's Republic of China. This was an illegal
act!
The public security agency hopes that you will actively
cooperate in this matter, obey the advice of the Civil Police, and stop
the illegal activities to date. Can you do it?
Answer: Yes
We
hope you will calm down and reflect carefully, and we solemnly admonish
you: If you adhere stubbornly to your own opinions, refuse to repent,
and continue to engage in illegal activities, you will be punished by
the law! Do you understand what is being said?
Response: Understand
Reprimandee: Li Wenliang
Reprimander: [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
January 3, 2020
Work Unit: [Seal of the Zhongnan Precinct, Public Security Bureau of Wuchang, Wuhan]
武汉市公安局 武昌分局 中南路街派出所
训诫书
武公(中)字(20200103)
被训诫人 李文亮_性别男_出身年月[OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
身份证号各类及号码 [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
现住址(戶籍所在地) 武汉市[OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
工作单位 武汉市中心医院
违法行为(时间、地点、参与人、人数、反映何问题、后果等) 2019年12月30日在微信群"[OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]"发表有关华南水果海鲜市场确诊7例SARS 的不属实的言论。
现在依法对你在互联网上发表不属实的言论的违法问题提出警示和训诫。你的行为严重扰乱了社会秩序。你的行为已超出了法律所允许的范围,违反了《中华人民共和国治安管理处罚法》的有关规定,是一种违法行为!
公安机关希望你积极配合工作,听从民警的规劝,至此中止违法行为。你能做到吗?
答: 能
我们希望你冷静下来好好反思,并郑重告诫你:如果你固执己见,不思悔改,继续进行违法活动,你将会受到法律的制裁!你听明白了吗?
答: 明白
被训诫人: 李文亮
训诫人: [OBSCURED IN ORIGINAL]
2020年1月3
工作单位: [武汉市公安局 武昌分局 中南路街派出所]
On
January 27, 2020, the state sponsored new outlet "The Paper" [澎湃新闻]
published an article titled "A doctor in Wuhan was reprimanded for
sending false information about the epidemic to a group, and was
isolated after 11 days after being infected"
[武汉一医生疑群内发不实疫情信息被训诫，11天后感染被隔离]. The screenshot on the left shows the
article as it was archived by the Internet Archive on January 27, 2020.
The screenshot on the right was taken on January 28, 2020, and shows
that that URL was displaying a message saying "This article has been
taken down."
In an interview with Caixin, Li Wenliang had this to say about the reprimand:
Li Wenliang:
It was the same night (December 31) at 1:30 in the morning when the
screenshot was released. The Wuhan Health Commission had a meeting
overnight. I was mainly called in by the leaders of our hospital to ask
about the situation. After I went to work at dawn, I was interviewed by
the Hospital Supervision Department again. I still asked about my
situation, the source of the news, and whether I realized my mistake.
After all that I didn't expect the police would come looking for me. On
January 3, they called me to go to the police station to sign the
"Letter of Reprimand". I had never dealt with the police before. I was
also very worried. If I didn’t sign, I was afraid that I would not
allowed to leave. I went through the process and signed it. I didn't
tell my family about it. At that time, there was a lot of pressure, and I
was worried about punishment by the hospital, which would affect my
future job prospects. Later, a classmate of mine found out and helped
introduce me to a journalist. I talked with the journalist directly
about the situation.
Caixin Reporter: The police made
their first report on January 1, saying that eight rumormongerss had
been summoned, and you were called to the police station on January 3?
Does this mean that you were one of those eight people being dealt
with?
Li Wenliang: This is not clear. I am not sure. What you said is possible. I just want to get well soon.
Caixin Reporter:
The "Letter of Reprimand" given to you by the police you spread false
statements on the Internet. At that time, some people believed you were
spreading rumors. How do you see it?
Li Wenliang: I don't
think it was rumormongering, because the report clearly stated it was
SARS. And I just wanted to remind my classmates to pay attention, and I
had no desire to cause a panic. . . .
Caixin Reporter:
Since you don't think it was rumormongering, have you ever thought about
going through judicial channels to ask for an explanation?
Li Wenliang:
No, the judicial system may be very troublesome. I don't want to make
trouble with the Public Security Bureau. I am afraid of trouble.
Everyone knows that the truth is most important. . . .
Caixin Reporter:
On January 28, the Supreme Court issued a commentary on the official
account on whether the punishment of eight “rumormongers” in Wuhan was
appropriate. You may be among these eight people. What thoughts did you
have when you saw it?
Li Wenliang: After reading the
Supreme Court's article, I felt greatly relieved and was not too worried
about what the hospital would do. I think that a healthy society should
not have only one voice, and I don't agree that public power power
should be used to interfere excessively.
李文亮：就是这个截图传出去那天夜里（12月31日）凌晨一点半，武汉卫健委连夜开会，我主要是被我们医院领导叫过去询问情况。天亮上班后，我又被医院监察科给约谈了，还是问我情况，问消息来源，问事情经过和是否认识到错误。后边我也没想到警察会找我。1月3日，他们打电话叫我去派出所签《训诫书》，以前也没和警察打过交道，我当时也很担心，不签的话怕不能脱身，我去了走完流程就签字走了。这事我也没给家里人说，当时压力比较大，担心医院处罚，影响以后工作晋升之类的。后来我一个同学知道了，帮忙介绍了记者，我直接跟记者说了这些情况。
财新记者：警方第一次通报是在1月1日，称当时已传唤八名造谣人员，而你是在1月3日被叫去派出所的？这是不是说你是这八人之外被处理的人？
李文亮：这个就不清楚了，我不能确定，你说的也有可能，我现在只想早日康复。
财新记者：警方给你的《训诫书》上写的是在互联网上发表不实言论，当时还有人觉得你造谣，你怎么看？
李文亮：我觉得不算造谣，因为报告写得清清楚楚是SARS。而且我只是想提醒同学注意，并不想引起恐慌. . . 。
财新记者：既然不认为是造谣，那你想过以后会不会走司法途径来要个说法？
李文亮：没有，司法途径恐怕很麻烦，我不想跟公安局找麻烦，我很怕麻烦。大家知道真相更重要，平反对我而言不那么重要了，公道自在人心。. . . .
财新记者：1月28日，最高法院在公号发了一篇武汉八名“造谣者”处罚是否得当的评论文章。你可能是这八人之外的人，当时你看到后有什么想法？
李文亮：看到最高法院的文章后，我心里放松了许多，不太担心医院的处理了。我觉得一个健康的社会不该只有一种声音，不同意利用公权力过分干预。
In an interview with the New York Times, Li Wenliang had this to say about the reprimand:
Dr. Li:
If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I
think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness
and transparency.
NYT: How did you feel when the police accused you of spreading rumors?
Dr. Li:
The police believed this virus was not confirmed to be SARS. They
believed I was spreading rumors. They asked me to acknowledge that I was
at fault. I felt I was being wronged, but I had to accept it. Obviously
I had been acting out of good will. I felt very sad seeing so many
people losing their loved ones.
答：如果官方提前公布疫情信息我想会好很多。应该跟（更）公开透明。
问：警方训诫您的时候他们有没有说为什么在自己的同学微信群里面分享这样的信息是错误的，是造谣呢？他们认为到底哪里您做错了？他们当时怎么说的？
答：（警方）认为不能确定是SARS，认为我造谣，让我认识错误。
问：您当时是什么感受？您觉得您错了吗？
答：觉得比较委屈，但是只能接受。明明出于好意，而且报告上写的很清楚。
At 12:57 am on February 7, 2020, the state sponsored Global Times tweeted that Li Wenliang was under emergency treatment.
Both
of the screenshots below were taken around 1:20 am on February 7, 2020.
The screenshot on the left shows that a search for "political emergency
treatment" [政治性抢救] returned results that included the hashtag "Li
Wenliang passed away" [李文良去世]. The screenshot on the right shows that a
search for "Li Wenliang political emergency treatment" [李文良 政治性抢救]
returned no results.
At 2:58 am on February 7, 2020 the Wuhan Health Commission published an announcement online that Li Wenliang had passed away.
The
screenshot below was taken at 11:16 am on February 7, and shows the
hashtag "Li Wenliang passed away" [李文良去世] was at #21 on Sina Weibo's
trending keywords list.
This
screenshot shows Baidu search results for Li Wenliang's phrase "a
healthy society should not have only one voice" [一个健康的社会不该只有一种声音] on
February 8, 2020. The top result is a post on Baidu's on PostBar [贴吧]
social media platform.
The
screenshot on the left below was taken on February 8, 2020, and shows
that first Baidu search result as it appeared at that time. The
screenshot on the right below was taken on February 9, 2020, and shows
the same URL now displays a notice saying "Very sorry, this post has
been deleted."
The
screenshot on the left below shows Baidu search results for "Li
Wenliang" as they appeared on February 9, 2020. The screenshot on the
right shows the search results for "Li Wenliang" as they appeared on
February 15, 2020. The search results outlined in red are identical, and
appeared to have remained unchanged throughout that period. The search
results were all from sources under the direct control of the central
government in Beijing.
The
screenshot on the left below shows the search results for "Li Wenliang"
as they appeared on February 14, 2020. The screenshot on the right
below shows the search results for "Li Wenliang" as they appeared on
Qihoo on the same day. Search results outlined in the same came are from
the same source.
On
March 4, 2020, Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to the United
Kingdom, posted the following on his Twitter account regarding Li
Wenliang: "China has made efforts to ensure transparency. We try our
best to be open and responsible, which is praised by WHO. There’s no
such a thing as China cracking down on people who gave away
information."
On March 11, 2020, the state sponsored media outlet Caixin published a report in English that stated:
A
Central Hospital department head blamed authorities for endangering
lives by spreading false information."The false information released by
the relevant departments — claiming the disease was controllable and
would not spread from human-to-human — left hundreds of doctors and
nurses in the dark, doing all they could to treat patients without
knowing about the epidemic," the department head told Caixin. "And even
when they fell ill, they could not report it. They could not alert their
colleagues and the public in time despite their sacrifice. This is the
most painful loss and lesson."
3. Lawyer Chen Qiushi [陳秋實]
Chen Qiushi obtain his PRC law license in 2016 and was an attorney at the LongAn Law Firm in Beijing (隆安律师事务所).
At
12:34 am on January 25, 2020, Chen Qiushi posted on Twitter that he was
in Wuhan, and included a video of him saying: "I will use my lens to
personally witness and record all the real situations that happen during
this disaster prevention and quarantine process in Wuhan"
[我会用我的镜头来亲自见证和记录武汉这次防灾检疫过程中所有发生的真实情况].
Over
the next several days Chen Qiushi posted images and videos of what was
happening in Wuhan. For example, he posted this at 6:23 pm on February
4, 2020:
We
have collected enough evidence to prove that Wuhan's medical care,
first aid, and funeral services have been overloaded. In the future, I
will not shoot and track death and cremation information. Because
everyone should already have passed judgment in their hearts, I really
can't bear to disturb the deceased again and again. Please rest in
peace~~
On
February 7, 2020 a video titled "[Posted Seeking Help on Behalf of
Others] Chen Qiushi's mother calls on Wuhan netizens to find Qiushi's
whereabouts! We lost contact with citizen reporter Chen Qiushi after he
went to Fangcang Hospital" [【求助代发】陈秋实妈妈呼吁武汉网友寻找秋实下落！公民记者陈秋实去方舱医院后失联] was
posted on Chen Qiushi's Youtube channel.
These
screenshots show that on February 9, 2020, Baidu began censoring search
results for "Lawyer Chen Qiushi" [陈秋实律师]. The screenshot on the left
was taken on the morning of February 9, and shows Baidu returned 140,000
results. The screenshot on the right was taken in the evening of the
same day, and shows Baidu only returning 28 search results.
4. Beijing University Legal Scholar He Weifang [贺卫方]
 |
Source:
https://business.sohu.com/s2004/zhishifenzi50.shtml - Image shows He
Weifang (bottom right hand image) listed as one of "50 Public
Intellectuals Who Influence China" [ 影响中国的公共知识分子50人] published in the
September 2004 edition of the Southern People Weekly [南方人物周刊]
|
On
February 17, 2020, images of a hand-written note signed by He Weifang,
Director of Peking University Judicial Research Center, began appearing
on social media platforms and websites in China. Here are the images.
The title of the note was "Can This Heavy Toll Be Exchanged for Freedom of the Press?"[惨重的代价能否换来新闻自由?]. Some excerpts:
He
[Xi Jinping] first issued verbal instructions on January 7 and written
instructions on January 20, and he issued "clear demands" on January 22.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the Gengzi year, that is
on January 25, the Politburo Standing Committee convened to "re-study,
re-deploy, and re-mobilize" to fight the epidemic, and decided to
establish a central leadership team for the epidemic.
Let us not
mention that January 7 was already a month into the outbreak of the
epidemic, or that it is difficult to understand what the content of the
deployment and mobilization was. Here is a shocking fact: the content of
the statements made on January 7 concerning the Wuhan epidemic seems to
have been handled by the official media in the manner of "retain it
within the walls of the imperial palace and do not publicize it," and
the outside world was left completely unaware. Was the speaker aware
that he had been "blocked," or that it was inappropriate to let the
public know? After all is said and done, the root of the matter lies in a
lack of freedom.
If newspapers and television stations in Wuhan
and Hubei could report the epidemic freely and responsibly, why should
they rely on this bureaucratic system of mutual blame? Why do so many
people in Wuhan and the whole country get infected and suffer such
misfortune? !
Alas, I've said enough. I hope this painful price
can make those in authority realize: Without freedom of the press, not
only is are the lives of the people made difficult, but there is no
trust in the government, much less modern governance capabilities and
systems.
他最早发出指示是在1月7日，1月20日作出批示，1月22日又发出“明确要求”。庚子年正月初一，即1月25日，再召开政治局常委会对抗击疫情“再研究、再部署、再动员”，并决定成立中央应对疫情领导小组。
我们姑且不说1月7日已经是疫情爆发一个月之后，也难以理解部署、动员的内容究竟如何，一个令人震惊的事实是：1月7日讲话涉及武汉疫情的内容似乎被官媒作了“留中不发”的处理，外界根本无从知晓。讲话者是否知道他遭到了“屏蔽”，抑或讲的内容不适合让公众知道？说到底，根子在于无自由。
如果武汉、湖北的报纸、电视可以就疫情进行自由而负责的报导，何至于要依赖这相互诿责的官僚体系？何至于武汉以及全国要这么多的人受感染、遭厄运？！
唉，不多说了。但愿这惨痛的代价能够让手握权柄者醒悟：没有新闻自由，就不仅生民多难，而且政府亦无信，更谈不上现代化的治理能力与体系。
The
screenshot below was taken on February 20, 2020, and shows that a
search for the title of He's letter on Sina Weibo returned no content.
The
screenshot on the left below was taken in the afternoon of February 20,
2020, and shows that the first page of Baidu results included 10
results, and the first result was a web page about He's letter (outlined
in blued). The screenshot on the right was taken later that same day,
and shows that the first
page of Baidu results included only nine results, and the first result
had been removed.
The
screenshot on the left below was taken in the afternoon of February
20, 2020, and shows that a search for the URL for the first Baidu result
retrieved the relevant web page. The screenshot on the right was taken
later that same day, and shows a search for that URL returned no
results.
The
screenshot below was taken on February 27, 2020, and shows that the
relevant web page was still available, even though Baidu was no longer
displaying it in its search results.
The screenshots below were taken in January 2015, and show that at that time:
- A
search on Baidu web search for "He Weifang" returned over 4 million
results, including results from social media (blog.sina.com.cn) and
foreign (wikipedia.org) websites (outlined in blue).
- A search on Baidu Zhidao for "He Weifang" returned over 292,000 results.
- Baidu users had established a PostBar (Tieba) forum on "He Weifang."
The screenshots below were taken in December, 2020, and show that at that time:
- A search on Baidu web
search for "He Weifang" returned over 700,000 results, with no results from social media or foreign websites.
- A search on Baidu Zhidao for "He Weifang" returned no results.
- Baidu has banned users from establishing a PostBar (Tieba) forum on "He Weifang."
5. Tsinghua University Legal Scholar Xu Zhangrun [许章润]
 |
Source: Screenshot of Xu Zhangrun's bio page from Tsinghua University's website
|
Unlimited
government budgets have funded technological developments that are
turning China into a mega data totalitarian state; we are already
subjected to a 1984 style of total surveillance and control. This state
of affairs has enabled what could be called “WeChat terrorism” which
directly targets the country’s vast online population. Through the taxes
the masses are, in fact, funding a vast Internet police force dedicated
to overseeing, supervising, and tracking everyone and all of the
statements and actions they author. The Chinese body politic is riven by
a new canker, but it is an infection germane to the system itself. As a
result, people live in a state of constant anxiety; they are keenly
aware that the Internet terrorism is by no means merely limited to
personal WeChat accounts being suspended or shut down entirely, nor to
the larger enterprise of banning entire WeChat groups. Everyone knows
that the online terror may readily escape the virtual realm to become
overtly physical: That is when the authorities use what they have
learned online to send in the police in real-time. Widespread anxiety
leads to relentless self-censorship; people are beset by nagging fears
about what inexplicable punishment may suddenly befall them.
As a
result, the potential for meaningful public discussion is stifled. By
the same token, the very channels of communication that should in normal
circumstances exist for the dissemination of public information are
choked off, and a meaningful, civic early-warning system that could play
a crucial role at times of local or national emergency is thereby
outlawed. In its place we have an evolving form of military tyranny that
is underpinned by an ideology that I call
“Legalistic-Fascist-Stalinism”, one that is cobbled together from
strains of traditional harsh Chinese Legalist thought wedded to an admix
of the Leninist-Stalinist interpretation of Marxism along with the
“Germano-Aryan” form of fascism.
因其动用奠立于无度财政汲取的科技手段，这便形成了“1984”式“大数据极权主义”。缘此而来，其“微信恐怖主义”直接针对亿万国民，用纳税人的血汗豢养着海量网警，监控国民的一言一行，堪为这个体制直接对付国民的毒瘤。而动辄停号封号，大面积封群，甚至动用治安武力，导致人人自危，在被迫自我审查之际，为可能降临的莫名处罚担忧。由此窒息了一切公共讨论的思想生机，也扼杀了原本应当存在的社会传播与预警机制。由此，“基于法日斯主义的军功僭主政治”渐次成型，却又日益表现出“组织性失序”和“制度性无能”，其非结构性与解结构性。
The screenshots below were taken on February
5, 2020, and show the following results of a search for the title of Xu
Zhangrun's essay on China's top three search engines:
- Baidu: No results.
- Qihoo:
Results restricted to a white list of about 10 websites under the
control of the central government, none of which are related to Xu
Zhangrun's essay.
- Sogou: Results restricted to a white list of about 10 websites under the
control of the central government, none of which are related to Xu Zhangrun's essay.
The
screenshots below were taken in July, 2018, and show that a search for
"Xu Zhangrun" on Baidu returned over 200,000 results, including results
from social media websites (like blog.sina.com.cn) and non-government
run websites (like aisixiang.com).
The
screenshots below were taken in December 2020, and show that a search
for "Xu Zhangrun" on Baidu returned over 57,000 results, with no results
from social media websites or non-government run websites. Instead,
Baidu has restricted results to a white list of about 10 websites under
the control of the central government.
6. Former Lawyer Xu Zhiyong [许志永]
Xu Zhiyong
was a lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications
and was one of the founders of the civil society groups Open
Constitution Initiative ("Gong Meng" 公盟) and the Chinese News Citizens'
Movement (中国新公民运动). In the August 2009 edition of China's Esquire
Magazine [时尚先生] Xu said:
I
hope that our country can be a free and happy one. No person need
betray their conscience. Everyone needs only rely on their talent and
character to find their position in life. A simple and happy society,
where the goodness of humanity may find its apex, and its malice finds
its nadir, where honesty, trust, kindness, and helping one another
becomes commonplace, where there is not so much anger and anxiety, and
there is a pure smile on every face.
我希望我们是个自由、幸福的国家。每个人不需要违背良心，只要靠自己的才能和品德就可以找到合适的位置；一个简单而幸福的社会，人性的善得到最大的张扬，恶得到最大的抑制；诚实、信用、友爱、互助将成为我们生活的常态，没有那么多烦恼和愤怒，每一个人脸上是纯真的笑容。
On
February 4, 2020, Xu Zhiyong published an open letter dated January
20 entitled "A Written Admonishment Urging Retirement" [劝退书]. Some
excerpts:
The
first infected person appeared on December 1, 2019; by the end of the
month Wuhan’s hospitals were full of them. Yet the local police
intimidated the eight doctors who tried to raise the alarm and CCTV set
about “dispelling rumors.” These acts of connivance were aimed at
preventing the truth from getting out. By January 12, 2020 at the
latest, when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published
details of the genetic makeup of the virus, you should have been
completely aware of what was going on but you continued to delay
releasing information about the actual situation. Your prevarication led
to an unconfined and explosive spread of what is now a nationwide
epidemic. The lessons of 2003 are right there in front of your eyes. Do
you really mean to tell us that you are completely out of touch and
lacking any sensitivity to these facts?
2019年12月1日出现感染者，12月底武汉医院已经爆满，公安训诫恐吓八位医生，央视辟谣，官家合谋封杀真相。至少1月12日国家疾病预防控制中心公布病毒基因组时，您应该已知，却迟迟不批准公开真相，致疫情爆发举国灾祸。2003前车之鉴近在眼前，您就一点敏感性没有？
On February 15, 2020 Xu Zhiyong was taken into detention by Chinese authorities.
The
screenshot on the left below was taken on January 2, 2020, and shows
that a search for "Xu Zhiyong" returned over 230,000 results, including
results from social media (blogchina.com, Sina Weibo) and foreign
(canadainternational.gc.ca) websites. The screenshot on the right below
was taken on January 3, 2020, and shows the same search on Baidu
returns only 84 results, all from about 10 websites operated by the
central government.
More coverage of Xu Zhiyong on this blog can be found here:
7. Businessman Ren Zhiqiang [任志强]
 |
Source: Phoenix News
|
Prior
to 2013 Ren Zhiqiang was a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of
the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. On February 15,
2015, the websites of several mainland China news outlets published an
article entitled "Ren Zhiqiang: Our Government Basically Does Not Care
About Protecting Private Property" (任志强：我们的政府根本就不想保护私有财产). Some
excerpts:
GDP
is falling. Why is it some are some investments moving abroad? Besides
us, are others also investing abroad? So what are the reasons underlying
falling private investment? Perhaps the main reasons are that the
government has no credibility, violates its contracts, and appropriates
private property. In addition, the government puts excessive emphasis
on the gun and the knife and opposes Western value systems. The winds of
the Cultural Revolution are picking up again. Furthermore, when it
comes protecting private property, they talk about rule of law, when in
fact the rule of law they emphasize is the power of government.
GDP不下降。为什么这一部分投到外面去了呢？除了我们以外，是不是还有别的部分也投到外面去了？所以民间投资下降的背后原因是什么？原因可能是政府没有信誉，违约和占用了民间资产的比例很大。另外是政府过度强调了枪杆子和刀把子，反对西方的价值观，文革之风又起来了。还有就是对于私有产权的保护，说是法治，但是实际上在强调了法治的时候是政府强势。
The
article was deleted from those websites, and for the next several years
Ren Zhiqiang's ability to publish on PRC based websites was gradually
restricted and he became of target of the Party and the government. See:
In
early March, 2020 an essay attributed to Ren Zhiqiang began circulating
online. Here are some excerpts from the untitled essay:
The
reality shown by this epidemic is that the Party defends its own
interests, the government officials defend their own interests, and the
monarch only defends the status and interests of the core. Precisely
this type of system is capable of a situation where only the ruler’s
order is obeyed with no regard for the people. When the epidemic had
already broken out, they wouldn’t dare admit it to the public without
the king’s command. They wouldn’t dare announce the facts of the matter,
and instead used the method of catching and criticizing “rumors” to
restrict the spread of truth, resulting in the disease’s uncontainable
spread. . . .
China’s
ruling party concealed the cause of the outbreak, then using the power
of the entire country, followed up by sealing a city, deceiving the
trust of the WHO, and winning international praise. But, it was harder
to again deceive the Chinese people caught in the epidemic. Those who
live in a democratic country with freedom of speech perhaps don’t know
the pain of the lack of a free press and free expression. But Chinese
people know that this epidemic and all the unnecessary suffering it
brought came directly from a system that strictly prohibits the freedom
of press and speech.
这次疫情中可以看到的现实是，党在维护党的利益，官在维护官的利益，君则只是在维护一尊的核心地位与利益。正是这种体制造成了，只听君命而不顾民情的情况。当疫情已经发生时，却不敢在没有君令的情况下，向民众公布疫情。不敢公布事实与真相，反而用抓批“谣言”的方式，限制和阻止真相的传播，才造成了不可控制的传播。.
. . .
中国执政党用隐瞒前期疫情暴发的原因，靠后续封城的举国之力，骗取了世卫组织的信任，并赢得了国际的称赞。但身历其中的中国人却难以再次欺骗。生活在言论自由的民主国家的人，也许并不知道没有新闻自由与言论自由的痛苦，但中国人知道这次疫情的暴发和所引发的一切本不应出现的痛苦，都来自于这个严禁新闻自由与言论自由的体制。
Translation: China Digital Times - https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2020/03/translation-essay-by-missing-property-tycoon-ren-zhiqiang/. A full translation can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20200408113951/http://credibletarget.net/notes/RZQ.
Ren Zhiqiang was detained on March 12, 2020, and sentenced to 18 years in prison on September 22, 2020, for financial crimes.
The
screenshot below on the left was taken on March 15, 2020, and shows
that a search for "Ren Zhiqiang" on Baidu returned over 13 million
results, mostly from websites licensed by, but not under the direct
control of, the government (such Phoenix, Netease, and Tencent). The
screenshot on the right was taken on March 16, 2020, and shows that the
same search returns over 13,000 results, and all of the organic search
results are from about 10 websites under the direct control over the
central government (The People's Daily and China Radio International).
8. Zhang Zhan [张展]
On December 28, 2020, a court in Beijing sentenced Zhang Zhan to four years imprisonment for disturbing the peace in a public venue based on the following:
[D]uring the critical period of Wuhan's prevention and control of the novel coronavirus infectious pneumonia epidemic, defendant Zhang Zhan in her capacity as a witness repeatedly used WeChat, "Twitter" (Tui Te), "YouTube" (You Guan) and other Internet media to indiscriminately fabricate and publish documentary and commentary articles and information in text, video, and other formats to distort the circumstances of Wuhan's prevention and control of the novel coronavirus infectious pneumonia epidemic. In addition, she accepted interviews with foreign media Radio Free Asia and The Epoch Times and thereby led to a large number of relevant false information to be spread on domestic and foreign information networks, newspapers ,and magazines, which in fact caused a large number of Internet users to view, comment, and forward. It confused viewers and caused severe disruption of public order, and her actions constitute the commission of the crime of disturbing the peace.
被告人张展在武汉市防控新型冠状病毒感染肺炎疫情的关键期间，以亲历者的身份多次通过微信、“twitter”(推特)、“YouTube”(油管)等网络媒介以文字、视频等方式肆意编造、发布内容为歪曲武汉市防控新型冠状病毒感染肺炎疫情情况的记录性、评论性文章及信息并以此接受境外媒体“自由亚洲电台”、“大纪元”的采访，导致相关虚假信息在境内外信息网络、 报刊媒体上大量散布，并实际引发大量网民观看、评论、转发， 混淆视听，造成公共秩序严重混乱，其行为已构成寻衅滋事罪。
See: Translation: Judgment in the Case of Citizen Journalist Zhang Zhan's Reporting on the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan, https://blog.feichangdao.com/2021/01/covid-zhang-zhan-wuhan-journalist-judgment.html.
The screenshot below was taken on December 30, 2020, and shows that a search on Baidu for "Zhang Zhan" returned three results relevant to Zhang's conviction - two from Netease (which were deleted within 48 hours) and one from Phoenix News - a copy of a Sina Weibo post by Hu Xijin, editor of the state sponsored Global Times, titled "Western Political and Public Opinion Powers Please Stop Your Continued Harming of Zhang Zhan" [请西方政治和舆论力量不要再继续害张展了].
That post was almost identical to Hu's op-ed that appeared on the Global Times' website a few hours later in Chinese and English:
Some excerpts from the English language editorial:
Zhang went to Wuhan as a "citizen journalist" in February. There, she published her so-called independent reports on social media platforms both at home and abroad. In October 2019, she publicly supported the protest in Hong Kong against the then already withdrawn anti-extradition bill and was temporarily detained for holding an umbrella that read: "The Communist Party of China should step down."
Western public opinion appreciates her values and her "bravery." But I believe she will hit the dead end of the Chinese legal framework if she keeps doing this for long.
. . . .
In fact, during Wuhan's lockdown, many journalists were there reporting the real situation. Various kinds of videos were constantly released by ordinary residents on social media platforms. Since late January, the information surrounding Wuhan has been fairly adequate. With so many people writing and photographing the real situation, some of these works directly led to relevant officials being held accountable. Meanwhile, some of the articles and photos got the situation wrong, sparking fierce controversy. But apart from the online squabble, none led to serious consequences.
Why was Zhang the only one sentenced to 4-year imprisonment for picking quarrels and provoking trouble? I hope she can get out of what the Western ideology instilled in her mind.
