After Dr. Li Wenliang, one of the eight people (all physicians in Wuhan) who warned the public about the novel coronavirus, passed away on February 6, 2020, the public was in deep mourning. Beijing sent a group to Wuhan to investigate his case.
On March 5, the National Health Commission awarded him, posthumously, along with over 500 other people, the title of “Advanced Individual for Epidemic Prevention and Control.”
However, since it has been a month, people are questioning why the authorities have not completed and published their investigation showing the result of Dr. Li’s case. After Dr. Li informed others about the SARS-like pneumonia, Dr. Li was mistreated and received warnings from both his hospital and the Public Security Bureau .
People are waiting for the government’s official apology to Dr. Li. However, a dissident pointed out that the government would never do that as, “The Public Security organ is the core of (the regime’s) stability maintenance. If people pushed for accountability, they would never apologize but would just brush it off. … It was the (government’s) ineffective control that caused this disaster. How could it blame itself?”
Wang Guangfa, a doctor from the No 1 Hospital of Beijing University who also died after the Coronavirus infection, was one of the awardees. Wang, a member of the first National Health Commission’s expert group sent to Wuhan in early January, told the public that the virus was “controllable” and “could not be transmitted from person to person.” [Editor’s Note: There were reports that, by then, person-to-person infections had become known and were reported to the National Health Commission, so Wang might have made that statement out of the Communist Party’s need for “stability maintenance.”]
People are saying that Wang owes a lot to the Wuhan people, including those thousands of souls that have left this world.
Related postings on Chinascope:
- Public Opinion: Mourning for Dr. Li Wenliang
- Public Opinion: Outpouring of Grief and Anger upon Death of Chinese Doctor Who Warned Others About Coronavirus
Excerpts in Chinese:
上月初因感染新型肺炎去世的武汉市中心医院眼科医生李文亮，周四（5日）获国家卫健委追授“疫情防控工作先进个人”称号。同样获颁发称号的还有国家卫健委专家组成员王广发等500多人。由于当局至今未就李文亮事件道歉，这次追授称号被批评为本末倒置。
有网民留言质疑当局企图利用一个称号代替公开道歉，并把真相掩盖。
异议人士黄永祥认为，这样的处理符合当局的行为模式。
黄永祥：“公安是它的维稳系统的核心。永远不会道歉，只会轻轻带过。有时候会推一两个责任人出来背锅。追究真相是不可能的。如果要顶责任，肯定是它控制不力造成这种灾难，它怎么会把这种灾难推到自己身上呢？”
广州社会活动人士王爱忠批评当局的手法自相矛盾。
王爱忠：“它如果承认对李文亮的处罚是错误的，就涉及到对他整个言论审查管控制度的一个否定，这是中国当局所不能接受的。当局肯定他（李文亮）的做法，给予他奖励，显然是对民众不满的一种反应。‘我们肯定李文亮的警示作用是有价值的’。当然这两个问题是自相矛盾的。”
与李文亮并列，获追授 “防疫先进个人”的还有国家卫健委专家组成员，北京大学第一医院医生王广发。今年一月，王广发与国家卫健委专家到武汉展开调查，其后公开表示，新型病毒致病性较弱，“疫情可防可控”. 后来他自己也确诊感染武汉肺炎。
武汉作家方方周四发文，表示王广发这次“先进”了，但是他欠下了武汉人一笔债，这笔债是要还的，否则数以千计枉死者的灵魂不会安息。
Source: Radio Free Asia, March 6, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/huanjing/gf1-03062020075013.html