In a shocking revelation,
The SUN has reported
that five whistle-
blowers who wanted to
show the ‘truth’ of
Wuhan are still missing,
while one has died.
Their whereabouts have
been a mystery since
February, leading to
fears that the Chinese
government is torturing
and silencing dissenting
voices for speaking out
against the pandemic.
The list of five persons
includes three citizen
journalists - Chen Qiushi,
Fang Bin and Li Zehua
who shared pictures and
videos from inside the
quarantined city.
As per one Metro
report, the popular
accounts of these
people on YouTube –
which is banned in
mainland China but can
still be accessed through
a virtual private
network (VPN) – have all
gone quiet, and the
Chinese authorities
keeping mum about
them.
The Daily Mail report
claimed that over 5000
people were arrested in
China in first week of
outbreak itself for
sharing information on
the virus. Further, the
people were taken to
quarantine facilities and
labelled as ‘sick’ in a bid
to silence their voices.
Further, Chinese people
are being threatened
with jail time for sharing
news about coronavirus
happening around them
on social media.
Various human rights
advocates have raised
concerns over the
treatment of people in
China, while many
nations, such as US, UK
and France, have
questioned the handling
of the pandemic by the
Chinese regime.
Dr Li Wenliang
Li worked in the Wuhan
hospital were several
cases of a SARS-like
illness were identified in
patients who had visited
a seafood market in the
city.
On 3 January, Li was
called to the local police
station and reprimanded
for spreading rumors
online and severely
disrupting social order
over the message he
sent in the chat group.
The hero doctor later
died in February after
contracting coronavirus
from the patients he
was treating.
Ren Zhiqiang
A Chinese billionaire who
criticised President Xi
Jinping's handling of the
coronavirus epidemic
went missing in Mid-
March. His son and
assistant are also
reportedly missing.
The CNN report quotes
wng Ying, an
entrepreneur and close
friend of Ren, as saying
that she had not been
able to reach him since
12 March, and she fears
that he had been taken
away by authorities.
Chen Qiushi
Qiushi, a human rights
activist, reportedly
went missing after
uploading several videos
showcasing the
overwhelmed staff in
Wuhan hospital due to
the staggering number
of patients. One of his
reports claimed to show
a woman sitting next to
a dead relative in a
wheelchair as she tries
to call her family on the
phone.
His Weibo account was
deleted on 6 February,
and his family was
informed that he was
being taken into
quarantine. Since, then
no one has heard from
him.
Fang Bin
His disappearance bears
stark resemblance to
that of Chen Qiushi.
Fang Bin, a Wuhan
businessman, began
posting videos about
the outbreak with an
aim to show the actual
situation in the region.
As per reports, he
uploaded a video on 1
February showing eight
bodies outside of Wuhan
hospital. He later alleged
that police barged into
his house and question
him about the video.
On 9 February, he
posted a short video
with the words ‘all
people revolt – hand the
power of the
government back to the
people’, after which his
account went silent.
Li Zehua
Zehua was a journalist
with a state
broadcaster CCTV,
however he quit his job
to report on the
COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Radio Free
Asia (RFA), Li was
targeted after visiting
the Wuhan Institute of
Virology, an extremely
sensitive venue for the
Chinese authorities.
As per The Guardian
report, Zehua posted
live stream on Weibo
claiming that claiming
that he was being
chased by state agents.
The stream ended
abruptly with two
unidentified individuals
entering the apartment.
Xu Zhangrun
The Chinese professor
Xu Zhangrun published a
critique of President Xi
over China’s coronavirus
crisis. He was placed
under house arrest for
days, barred from social
media and cut off from
internet.
It should be noted that
the deadly pandemic
that started in Wuhan,
has killed more than
150,000 people and
infected more than 2.2
million so far.
Earlier, reports alleged
that the novel
coronavirus (nCoV) may
have been accidentally
leaked by an intern
working at the Wuhan
Institute of Virology in
China.
Nobel prize winning
scientist and French
virologist Luc
Montagnier suggested
that the SARS-CoV-2
virus came from a lab,
and is the result of an
attempt to
manufacture a vaccine
against the AIDS virus.
China is also questioned
about transparency in
reporting about the
virus.
Moreover, as per one
Radio Free Asia report,
Wuhan residents are
themselves dismissive of
Chinese Communist
Party’s reported
coronavirus death count
of approximately 2,500
deaths in the city with
most people saying that
the real number is at
least 40,000.