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HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA-POLITICS
Virus whistleblower doctor punished ‘inappropriately’: Chinese probe
BEIJING, March 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Police in China’s virus epicentre
Wuhan acted “inappropriately” by punishing a doctor who blew the whistle on
the outbreak that has now killed more than 9,000 worldwide, a Chinese
government investigation found Thursday.
Li Wenliang, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social
media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the city in December, was
reprimanded by police for sharing the information and made to sign a
statement agreeing not to commit any more “law-breaking actions.”
Li’s death from the virus in February prompted a national outpouring of
grief as well as anger at the government’s handling of the crisis, and bold
demands for freedom of speech.
A central government investigation initiated after Li’s death found that
Wuhan police “acted inappropriately by issuing a disciplinary letter” and
took “irregular law enforcement procedures,” state broadcaster CCTV reported
Thursday.
The investigators also found that Li’s colleagues had repeatedly attempted
to resuscitate the 34-year-old before he was declared dead because he was
“very young,” CCTV said.
State media said Li’s colleagues told investigators, “as long as there was
a bit of hope we were unwilling to give up, at the time there were no other
factors.”
The central government investigators “suggest” that Wuhan authorities
“supervise and rectify the matter,” and urged local police to revoke the
disciplinary statement issued to Li, according to CCTV.
Wuhan police later issued a statement saying that giving Li a disciplinary
statement had been “wrong” and they “apologise to his family for the
mistake”.
The deputy director of the Zhongnan Road police station was given a
“demerit” on his record and the officer on duty was handed an “administrative
warning”, it added.
It is rare for Chinese authorities to admit such wrongdoing, but Beijing
has sought to direct criticism over the mishandling of the virus outbreak
onto provincial officials, with several of the region’s top Communist Party
and health officials sacked.
Li’s death had initially been reported by state media before their reports
were quickly deleted. Wuhan Central Hospital only confirmed Li’s death hours
later, after saying he was undergoing emergency treatment.
Social media users who immediately took to the Twitter-like Weibo platform
in droves to mourn Li — before posts related to his death were scrubbed by
censors — had accused hospital authorities of inappropriately attempting to
resuscitate Li after he had already died.
China reported zero domestic COVID-19 infections for the first time on
Thursday, even as nations across the world have shut down in a desperate
effort to contain the pandemic.
China’s central government has sought to distance itself from the origins
of the disease, initially by sacking local officials blamed for allowing the
virus to spread, and recently by supporting the conspiracy theory that COVID-
19 originated in the US.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2045HRS