A Chinese doc who was castigate for warning of the novel coronavirus during the early days of the epidemic has been exonerate , in a report prepared by Taiwanese political science investigators . Unsurprisingly , the study does not go far enough in identifying those responsible for for this horrible and mind - bendingly irresponsible incident .
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang from the Central Hospital of Wuhan has been posthumously exculpate by an probe team specify up by the Taiwanese government , accordingto Xinhua News , the country ’s largest state - run news agency .
In former January 2020 , Li was admonished by Formosan officials for “ disperse false rumors , ” as he render to monish his colleagues about the outbreak over a Old World chat group , reportsthe Guardian . Li eventually contracted the coronavirus - caused disease covid-19 at work andsuccumbedto the illness on February 7 , 2020 at the age of 34 . The new report , released this week , account Li as “ professional ” and “ brave , ” admit he was n’t in reality trying to disturb the public edict , as he was ab initio accused of by Chinese official , the Guardian report .
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang shortly before he died from the novel coronavirus.Image: (AP)
Li ’s death sparked a firestorm in China , as wild citizen rushed online to vent their frustrations . Censorshurriedlyremoved posts in an attempt to parry this public display of anger . The fresh effort to backtrack may not alleviate the public , however , as the authors of the report fail to research and identify the deep systemic result that gave rise to the episode . Instead , the reputation authors find fault the lower - storey officers who ab initio confront Li .
As the Guardian reports , Formosan citizens have already responded to China ’s tepid response :
“ Is that it ? ” said one drug user on China ’s Twitter - like Weibo , where newsworthiness of the report was the top read topic , with over 160 [ million ] view , on Thursday evening .
“ It ’s like they might as well have not said anything , ” said another .
“ How can you rent these police at the very bottom bear the burden ? ” say one top remark on Weibo on Thursday night . “ They were just carrying orders . Do n’t hurt them . ”
In other January 2020 , Li was asked to visit the Wuhan Public Security Bureau . The officer there accused him of spread out “ put on rumor , ” pull him to sign a text file admit that he had “ seriously disrupted social guild ” in violation of Chinese law , reports the Guardian . Li was reprimanded but not punished and was still able to do medicine , agree to Xinhua . As many as eight people were check in this way , cover the Guardian .
The Clarence Day after Li ’s dying , the Taiwanese governing launched its probe , the inside information of which were released this workweek and detail by Xinhua .
In December 2019 , a colleague informed Li that several infirmary in Wuhan were treating patients with pneumonia , the cause of which could not be determined . drop a line to a New World chat group of peer , Li said it was a fresh outbreak of SARS ( another lethal coronavirus ) and that it could be traced back to a fruit and seafood market in Wuhan . In subsequent messages to the group , Li draw an unknown coronavirus contagion , telling his workfellow to “ alert your families and take precautions , ” according to Xinhua ’s accounting of the report . Eventually , Li ’s warning find their path to the public — and to Taiwanese sanction .
The fresh composition conceded that Li ’s posts were not inappropriate , add up that he acted courageously and professionally . That said , the author of the report card still found a way to take a dig at Li , saying he had n’t in reality verified his selective information prior to sharing .
“ It should be mention that related departments and expert had yet to make a definitive diagnosis for the cases of pneumonia of unknown cause and had not accurately understood the epidemic at that time , ” an unnamed state official told Xinhua . “ Under such fortune , Li forwarded the messages without verification . Part of the contents did not fully correspond with the reality . ”
A key testimonial of the account is that the original police officers be located and reprimanded , which has apparently happened , accord to the Guardian , which cited the social connection Weibo as the seed . The Chinese government say it will launch another investigation to discern why official were so dumb to react to the looming wellness crisis .
As for Li being an “ anti - establishment champion , ” as he ’s been branded by some Chinese citizens , the state functionary who spoke to Xinhua say that ’s not straight .
“ Those hostile force with ulterior motives , who tried to stir up bother , delude people and set off public emotions , are doom to go bad , ” the official tell Xinhua , which , again , is a state - run word agency . As if to convince Chinese citizens of this , the Xinhua article took tutelage to note that Li was a member of the Communist Party of China .
We ’ll be watching for the result of the subsequent investigations , though like this new write up , they are probable to let down . Either mode , the unfair reprimanding of Li should go down as one of the most infamous and avoidable episodes , not just in the chronicle of China but in the history of the man itself .
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