Public ire again spiked on Thursday in response to news that Dr. Li had passed away. After some confusion fueled by subsequent reports that he was still undergoing treatment, his death was confirmed. Netizens began to demand their freedom of speech en masse, using the hashtag #WeWantFreeSpeech (#我们要言论自由#). When that topic was shut down, CDT Chinese editors note, they quickly resumed their call under #WeDemandFreeSpeech (#我们要求言论自由#).
@胖***锡: On this night, the discussion topic of free speech appeared on Weibo. It lasted for an hour and a half and accumulated 400,000 views. Is it true that freedom can only go so far?
@马***智: #WeWantFreeSpeech I am a human being. An independent, lively human being. I deserve to have the most basic human rights. I am a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, I deserve to have every right bestowed upon me by the PRC Constitution.
@拨***豆: #WeWantFreeSpeech Dr. Li is owed an apology no matter what. This is not just about freedom of speech. No matter how long and splendid our history is, if we do not have cultural freedom, we’ll always be limping in other people’s eyes.
@住***街: What a joke. As a citizen of PRC, I can’t even use this #WeWantFreeSpeech tag anymore. Which constitutional clause grants power for this? Waiting for an answer. Urgent.
@蚂***啦: I saw with my own eyes as the blue characters between the #s turned black [became censored/controlled]. Do we righteous people have to bear witness to this infinite darkness? Do you enjoy deleting Weibo topics? Fine. I’ll just repost. #WeWantFreeSpeech
@雨***船: A system that won’t allow truth finally kills an honest, brave, and hardworking citizen. We should be not only angered but also ashamed! Why can’t people have freedom of speech? Why can’t we question? Why don’t we have the right to know? Why does the press have to be the government’s mouthpiece? Why do we have to be quiet and deferential while you are domineering and tyrannical?
@黑***鼠: Isn’t free speech a citizen’s basic right? Why do we descend to begging for something that belongs to us?
@K***o: #WeWantFreeSpeech #WeWantFreeSpeech The gravestones in the cemetery only have good people’s names, and not a single bad person’s name. They never die, they always live among the people.
@骑***: Remember your anger. This is not the end but a very small beginning. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, a greater anger will arise, but we must persist. If we are all destroyed by anger, then why does this land exist? #WeWantFreeSpeech
@学***恩: #WeWantFreeSpeech I hope my country can be the people’s country. I hope my compatriots can all be uncontrollable citizens.
@t***林: #CanYouDoIt? #DoYouUnderstand? #WeWantFreeSpeech. I am a legal citizen of the People’s Republic of China, and I want all the legal rights granted to me by the Constitution. I will never do it, I will never understand. [“Can you do it?” and “do you understand” were the questions that Li had to answer and sign on his official admonishment. The latter phrase became a forbidden word on social media.]
@垂***片: #WewWantFreeSpeech. I want the world that the Constitution endows me with.
@于***语: #WeWantFreeSpeech Hahaha, we don’t have it. In a few moments, this topic will change from blue to black, and won’t be able to be posted.
@烟***记: #WeWantFreeSpeech! It’s been snatched away for so long and should be returned to us!
@和***: We have sung countless times that unity is power. Remember? We really want to hold together! Today’s Doctor Li is the future for all of us regular people. Unity is strength! This time, we really want to leave our opinions, and hold tight! #WeWantFreeSpeech
@1***宙: #WeWantFreeSpeech Freedom of speech and assembly are rights that citizens of the People’s Republic of China should have. Don’t treat them like a gift.
@哈***精: When I was a kid, we were all told to be honest. It is written in textbooks, children’s books, and at the metro station. Everyone tells you to be honest and speak the truth. But life tells you that if you tell the truth, you won’t survive. Then what should us ordinary people do? Do we seal our lips and remain silent or do we give up on freedom of speech? —I do not understand, I can’t.
@T***_: We want free speech. Why should we want to live inside a wall, why can’t we speak the truth, how is this any different from a closed country?
@孤***菜: How can the news serve only those in power? Like this, can it be real news? I can’t trust those in power, I think they will just paint it so everything looks peaceful and good. I need free speech, the world and society should not have only one voice.
@孤***菜: #WeWantFreeSpeech Hahaha, deleting posts already? You guys don’t have days off even during this epidemic? Your bosses don’t treat you like humans. Nor does your country.
@水***x: I’ve been a netizen for the past 20 years. I’ve seen this wall go up one brick at a time. Every time I’d think maybe we had hit rock bottom, and maybe we’d turn things around this time. But that never happened. The bottom keeps getting lower. Reality is ever more unbelievable. It’s so unbelievable that even the normal life that we were promised as kids seems far fetched now. #WeWantFreeSpeech We are not gods. There is no perfect speech. We can’t ensure that everything we say is the ultimate truth. But this is the meaning of freedom.
@一***酱: #WeWantFreeSpeech Justice can never be eliminated. Because truth will always live.
@飞***年: No taxation without representation. We are taxpayers. We are citizens. We are not the so-called “people.” We have our rights. We want free speech!
@C***西：#WeWantFreeSpeech I’m very moved by the words of my fellow netizens. Looks like there is real power within the virtual. I don’t know whether or not this angry night will be forgotten, I don’t know if the empathy brought about by news of this death will fade after a moment. Will the heartbeat and hot-blood of this moment disappear in a flash? I don’t know. But what if this moment can turn into 10,000 moments?
@韩***3：In 18th century France, extremely strict censorship gave birth to a large number of underground booksellers who steered clear of spies, customs, and the police, taking manuscripts to Switzerland to complete the printing process. Smugglers carried boxes of books across mountainous terrains and walked approximately 340 kilometers to a secret warehouse in Troyes, France, where the books were then circulated into Paris through various underground routes.
Even if there are repeated 404s, we must still speak up.
When people want to speak, they will do it even if they have to climb across the Alps in complete darkness. #WeWantFreeSpeech
@是***_: #TheHeroWhoWarnedUsWithHisLifeHasLeft, but we must remember who labeled him a so-called “rumormonger!” If you must label what I say as rumor, then so be it. We don’t want free speech, we want the power to remain angry. One day, we will hold his picture and stand in the street. We will save that admonition notice and one day we will pay our respect. One day, when we are again labeled rumormongers, we will have the power to say:
Pictures of the official notice of admonition served to Li on January 3 have been circulating online, and are translated below:
Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau, Wuchang Branch, Zhongnan Road Police Station
Admonition Notice
Subject of admonition: Li Wenliang
Gender: Male
Date of birth: October 12, 1986
Identity card number: XXXX
Current address (location of household registration): Wuhan City
Work unit: Wuhan Central Hospital
Illegal behavior (time, location, participants, number of people, what problems were reflected, consequences, etc.): Publishing fictitious discourse related to the confirmation of 7 SARS cases at the Huanan fruits and seafood market in the WeChat group “Wuhan University clinical `04” on December 30, 2019.
In accordance with the law, we now warn and admonish you for the unlawful matter of publishing untrue discourse on the internet. Your behavior has severely disrupted social order. Your behavior has exceeded the scope permitted by law, and has violated the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Penalties for Administration of Public Security — it is an illegal act!
The public security bureau hopes that you will actively cooperate with our work, follow the advice of the police, and stop the illegal behavior. Can you do this?
Answer: Yes
We hope that you can calm down and earnestly reflect, and solemnly warn you: If you are stubborn, refuse to repent, and continue to carry out illegal activities, you will be punished by the law! Do you understand?
Answer: Understood
Subject of admonition: Li Wenliang
Persons carrying out the admonition: Hu Guifang, Xu Jinhang
January 3, 2020
Work unit: Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau, Wuchang Branch, Zhongnan Road Police Station
[Update: January 06, 16:29 PST] The day after Li was admonished by authorities, before his identity as a frontline health worker was revealed, China’s state broadcaster CCTV framed the incident as a public warning to all viewers and web-users. CDT has translated the relevant section of the January 2 broadcast:
On the evening of the 1st, the official Weibo of the Wuhan Public Security Bureau announced that eight individuals were investigated and punished according to the law for spreading rumors about the current Wuhan pneumonia epidemic.
According to reports, several medical facilities in our city have recently discovered and treated a number of pneumonia cases. The municipal health committee has since issued a briefing on this.
Yet, some netizens have posted information on the internet without verification, shared false information, and created adverse social impact.
After public security organs investigated and verified the situation, eight illegal personnel have been summoned and dealt with according to the law.
At the same time, the police are reminding everyone that cyberspace is not beyond the law. Posting information on the internet should comply with laws and regulations. The police will investigate and deal with all illegal acts that fabricate and spread rumors, and disrupt social order. Acts like this will not be tolerated.
It is our hope that netizens will abide by relevant laws and regulations and refrain from creating, believing, and spreading rumors, and together build a harmonious and sunny cyberspace. [Chinese]
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
Regarding the death of Doctor Li Wenliang of Wuhan Central Hospital, rigidly adhere to standard sources. It is strictly forbidden for reports to use contributions from self-media, and sites may not use pop-up alerts, comment, or sensationalize. Safely control the temperature of interactive sections, do not set up special topic sections, gradually withdraw the topic from Hot Search lists, and strictly manage harmful information. (February 6, 2020) [Chinese]
We deeply mourn the death of #Wuhan doctor Li wenliang, who unfortunately got infected with novel #Coronavirus while battling with the epidemic. After all-effort rescue, Li passed away on 2:58 am, Feb. 7. pic.twitter.com/mbYA3wB4pn
Local officials initially trumpeted these cases as a deterrent to others, but the later revelation that all eight were medical personnel who had been attempting to sound the alarm fueled public anger over the initial response to the disease. By then, Li himself had been infected by a patient he was treating for glaucoma, and was being treated in an isolation ward, but was still able to conduct several media interviews by phone and text message. One, with the Beijing Youth Daily, was targeted for deletion by a directive published by CDT last Thursday. In another interview, with Caixin, Li expressed relief at criticism of his earlier punishment from top central judicial authorities, commenting that "I think there should be more than one voice in a healthy society, and I don’t approve of using public power for excessive interference." He told The New York Times by text that “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.”
Dr Li was declared dead at 21:30 local time (13:30 GMT) on Thursday, and the news was reported by Chinese state media outlets, triggering a huge wave of popular reaction on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
Journalists and doctors at the scene, who do not want their names used, told the BBC and other media that government officials then intervened.
Official media outlets were told to change their reports to say the doctor was still being treated.
Reports said the doctor was given a treatment known as ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) which keeps a person’s heart pumping and keeps their blood oxygenated without it going through their lungs. [Source]
Numerous observers remarked on the breadth and intensity of the public response to reports of Li’s death. (Examples of these reactions are being compiled at CDT Chinese, and selections will be translated as soon as possible.)
Last time I saw my WeChat timeline in this intensity of collective mourning, was when Liu Xiaobo passed away.
This sketch of li wenliang one of the many things about him that are blowing up online. His death is crystallizing so much anger and frustration pic.twitter.com/lxlOwj7OhO
Example of the latter: screenshots of state TV announcing punishment of 8 doctors for spreading rumours about Wuhan's then-mysterious virus. Captioned with Mencius: "The shame of being shameless. That is shameless indeed." The screenshots may be doctored. The anger is genuine. pic.twitter.com/sKKXUJUTwi
Seems like the entire Chinese Internet is waiting on the very slim chance that Dr Li Wenliang, one of the first coronavirus whistleblowers, may be saved by ECMO treatment after his heart stopped beating earlier this evening.
The outpouring on China social media for Dr Li Wenliang is incredible. We’ve not seen the whole country rally behind someone in this way for a long time. https://t.co/wOGETkCSHf
Here’s a timeline of the topic “Dr. Li Wenliang passed away” slipping from top place to 7th on weibo’s trending topic list. (notice the number of mentions magically goes down) now this topic is completely gone, replaced by “Dr. Li undergoing emergency treatment”. pic.twitter.com/JbbdBTjSMv
This Weibo post by Li Wenliang from 2012 is now flooded with tributes
"Dear friends, from today, you may not be able to reach me anymore, because I'm going to save the Earth. If the sun still rises tomorrow, it means I made it. You don't need to thank me, it‘s what I should do!" pic.twitter.com/4C527HjBRs
I’ve never felt so angry in my entire life with the passing away of Dr #liwenliang but I know the next morning Weibo wil be cleansed. For the regime it will be business as usual. It never learns from its mistakes. pic.twitter.com/QGnBEgQy03
It's official, announcement by Wuhan Central Hospital. People are calling for Li Wenliang Act for ensuring freedom of expression. pic.twitter.com/kSwuy0g8Py
As a journalist, I refuse to quote the “official time of death” of Dr. Li Wenliang, which is Feb 7 early morning. It is important for us to determine when he actually passed away (Feb 6 or 7) so his death date isn’t assigned by the authorities. He deserves that at the very least.
“Political resuscitation” and “performance resuscitation”: Li Wenliang’s death is already tragic. The artificial delay of announcing his actual death is infuriating. I’ve never seen so much anger on Weibo and Wechat demanding accountability and apologies. Li deserves some peace. pic.twitter.com/XHCcF8mNG9
Top Weibo comments under hospital announcement of Li Wenliang's "official death" after hours of "rescue":
– I've learned two words: political rescue & performative rescue – I knew you would post this in the middle of the night – You think we've all gone to sleep? No. We haven't. pic.twitter.com/W3FvbZ7wvN
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011.
(@BeimengFu) 