The death of a Chinese doctor who tried to warn about the coronavirus outbreak has sparked widespread public anger and grief in China.
Li Wenliang died after contracting the virus while treating patients in Wuhan.
Last December he sent a message to fellow medics warning of a virus he thought looked like Sars – another deadly coronavirus.
But he was told by police to “stop making false comments” and was investigated for “spreading rumours”.
“I don’t think he was rumour-mongering. Hasn’t this turned into reality now?” his father, Li Shuying, told the BBC. “My son was wonderful.”
According to Chinese site Pear Video, Dr Li’s wife is due to give birth in June.
The virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.
Most of those killed have been over the age of 60 or have suffered from other medical conditions, China’s health authorities say. Dr Li’s medical history is not known.
The country’s anti-corruption body said it would open an investigation into “issues involving Dr Li”.
China’s leadership had already faced accusations of downplaying the severity of the virus – and initially trying to keep it secret.
The government has admitted “shortcomings and deficiencies” in its response to the virus, which has now killed 636 people and infected 31,198 in mainland China.
Analysts say it is hard to recall an event in recent years that has triggered as much online grief, rage and mistrust against the Chinese government.
The top two trending hashtags on Chinese social media site Weibo were “Wuhan government owes Dr Li Wenliang an apology” and “We want freedom of speech”
Both hashtags were quickly censored. When the BBC searched Weibo on Friday, hundreds of thousands of comments had been wiped. Only a handful remain.
“This is not the death of a whistleblower. This is the death of a hero,” read one comment.
A photo circulating on Twitter reportedly sourced from messaging platform WeChat showed a message in Chinese saying “Farewell Li Wenliang” written in the snow on a riverbank.
Many have taken to posting under the hashtag “Can you manage, do you understand?” – a reference to the letter Dr Li was told to sign when he was accused of disturbing “social order”.
BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonell says Beijing’s efforts to manage the coronavirus outbreak have laid bare the worst aspects of China’s command and control system of governance under President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese people will take some convincing that the government knows how to manage such an emergency, he adds.
Source: bbc.com
