Chinese netizens memorialize late Chinese COVID whistleblower on 2nd anniversary of his warning

Thousands of Chinese internet users left messages on the social media account of late Chinese COVID-19 whistleblower Li Wenliang, memorializing the anniversary of when he shared information about possible cases early on during the pandemic.

On Dec. 30, 2019, Dr. Li, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in Wuhan where the Sars-Cov-2 outbreak was first detected, noticed seven cases of a virus that looked like SARS, the virus that led to a global pandemic in 2003. He sent out a warning on social media that warned fellow medics to wear protection, but was told by local police to stop “making false comments” and was forced to recant. 

Li was hospitalized on Jan. 10 with fever and respiratory problems, but only diagnosed with COVID on Jan. 31 and died a week later.

His death resulted in a flood of posts directed at the government, which were quickly censored.

“It lays bare the worst aspects of China's command and control system of governance under Xi Jinping — and the Communist Party would have to be blind not to see it,” said Stephen McDonell, BBC’s China correspondent.

Discontent Chinese netizens continue to post on Li’s account on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social media platform.

"Happy new year Dr. Li, we will remember you forever," wrote a user called Tdby.

Among the posts were other brief thank you’s and candle emojis. Many wrote conversationally to the late scholar, such as how the past two years of the pandemic had gone by so quickly.

Fang Kecheng, assistant professor of Journalism and Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Li's Weibo microblog has become a place online where people express their feelings they are not comfortable expressing elsewhere.

"Such places for anonymous expression are needed in any society, and this is especially true in today's China," Fang told Reuters.

China has claimed a total of only 101,683 confirmed cases and 4,636 deaths from COVID as of Dec. 28.