First published
Many Chinese netizens had a sleepless night tonight as reports and posts poured in on the passing of Li Wenliang, one of the doctors who first tried to raise the alarm about the coronavirus outbreak in late December.
Individual posts expressing anger, distrust, and despair flooded Chinese social media after various sources, including the Party news outlet Global Times, first reported that Li had died earlier on Thursday, then later claimed that the young doctor was still alive but in critical condition, only to be followed by more reports stating that Li had passed away at 2:58 AM on Friday.
The 34-year-old doctor Li Wenliang was one of the eight ‘whistleblowers’ who tried to warn his colleagues about the Wuhan virus outbreak in late 2019, but was censored and reprimanded by local police for making “false comments.”
He later became infected with the virus himself while working at the Wuhan Central Hospital.
At a certain moment on early Friday morning, both the hashtags “Li Wenliang Is Still Being Rescued” (#李文亮仍在抢救#) and the hashtag “Dr. Li Wenliang Has Passed Away” (#李文亮医生去世#) were trending on Chinese social media at the same time, with netizens’ anger and confusion growing.
The Wuhan Central Hospital confirmed Li’s death in an online announcement the early hours of Friday morning.
As discussions flared up on Weibo, netizens soon discovered that many posts were deleted, that only “blue V” Weibo accounts (verified official government, media, website, business etc accounts) were able to publish posts about Li’s passing, and that news relating to Li was seemingly kept out of the top search lists on Weibo.
In response to this, the hashtag “Can You Manage, Do You Understand?” (#你能做到吗？你听明白了吗#) surfaced on Weibo, which is a reference to the letter Li was forced to sign earlier this year for “disturbing public order.”
"Can you manage? Do you understand?
"I don't understand, fuck off." pic.twitter.com/zNBw93f5Rg
— Frankie Huang 🐯 (@ourobororoboruo) February 6, 2020
Many netizens are not just expressing their anger and sadness over the death of Li, but also about the way it was reported and the distrust in media, authorities, and social media platforms that comes with it.
The letter Dr. Li was made to sign acknowledging that he was “making false comments.”
By early Friday morning, the phrase “Can You Manage, Do You Understand?” seems to have become a protest slogan for freedom of speech.
The messiness of Chinese media first reporting his death, then claiming Li was still on life support, and then the definite news of his passing has struck a nerve among netizens as it also epitomizes the handling of the Wuhan virus outbreak itself.
Some Weibo users suggest that official media purposely changed the narrative on Li’s passing to control the public opinion on the issue.
Many people express their frustration about not being able to trust supposedly trustworthy sources.
“They wouldn’t let him live when he was alive, they wouldn’t let him die when he was dead,” some write.
"We know they're lying, they know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, we also know they know we know they're lying,..
but they still lie."
– one of the many popular Weibo posts on #LiWenliang under now censored #你能做到吗你听明白了吗 hashtag. pic.twitter.com/dG4DCFqpwi
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) February 7, 2020
“Our hero, rest in peace,” many commenters say.
Dr. Li is survived by his pregnant wife and their first child.
For more information about the main social media trends in China regarding the coronavirus, also see our article on the 8 Major Trends in Times of 2019-nCoV.
By Manya Koetse, additional research by Miranda Barnes
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