London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Death of coronavirus doctor Li Wenliang becomes catalyst for ‘freedom of speech’ demands in China

Beijing’s top anti-corruption agency is sending investigators to Wuhan, signalling how seriously it is taking public anger over the handling of the outbreak
If the public can’t express their views, the crisis of confidence will only recur, analyst says

The death of a doctor in China is threatening to turn into a public confidence crisis for Beijing, just as it faces unprecedented challenges from the coronavirus outbreak.

Doctor Li Wenliang died on Friday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan after being infected with the virus, sparking a huge outpouring of grief and anger online in China. For many, his death symbolised government inaction in dealing with the outbreak, when he was one of the first to warn of the new disease. For that he was reprimanded by the police.

Beijing’s unusual decision the same day to send a team from the country’s top anti-corruption agency to Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, to look into “issues of public concern relating to Li Wenliang” shows how seriously the government is taking the venting of public anger.

“It is a very big crisis. China’s public opinion was divided, but this time a consensus has been formed. The public share the same attitude and harbour the sentiments of sympathy, suppression and grieving anger,” Wuhan University law professor Qin Qianhong said.

“I am worried that the situation could explode, or become like when [former Communist Party general secretary] Hu Yaobang died or even more serious.”



Hu’s death on April 15, 1989, triggered mass protests that later morphed into the Tiananmen student movement.

Analysts said the government now faced a dilemma: to punish officials to appease the public anger, but not to discourage those who are fighting the epidemic. They also questioned if the government would heed the public’s calls for more room for free speech.

After initial confusion about Li’s condition, in which state media reports of his death were contradicted by a claim by Wuhan Central Hospital that he was merely in critical condition, the hospital said he had died early on Friday morning. This unleashed a torrent of comments on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo.

By 6am, hashtags “Dr Li Wenliang has passed away” had 670 million views, “Li Wenliang has passed away” had 230 million views, and “I want freedom of speech” had 2.86 million views on Weibo. They were, however, quickly removed by the authorities.

Li, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, was one of the eight whistle-blowers disciplined by the police in early January for “rumour mongering” after he posted a message on a closed online WeChat group about a number of “Sars-like” cases at his hospital. He became infected himself from treating patients and his death has made him into an icon.

Many online users challenged the government’s definition of “rumours” and called for internet censorship to be relaxed.



On Friday afternoon, the National Supervisory Commission, the country’s top anti-graft agency, announced that it was sending a team to Wuhan to conduct a “comprehensive investigation”.

State broadcaster CCTV read out a brief statement about the inquiry. State media, government departments and officials including Chinese ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai paid tribute to Li.

Gu Su, a political scientist with Nanjing University, said it was unusual for such a high-level agency to send an investigation team so quickly over the death of a doctor.

Qin agreed. “They understand the crisis caused by the public opinions and criticisms. In order to resolve the crisis, they would have to deliver something to the public … some officials will be punished, but they also have to strike a balance in order not to hurt the morale of officials fighting the outbreak.”

The easy part would be looking into whether the police violated discipline by punishing someone for revealing information about a public health crisis, Gu said.

But the bigger question was who commissioned the police to punish Li, he said, particularly as the “rumour mongering” case was aired on CCTV, signalling central government endorsement.

“So the question is, are these rumours?” Gu said, adding that the best outcome would be to clarify the definition of “rumours”.
“It also involves what is freedom of speech because these are rights the laws should protect because it could affect people’s lives and their survival.”



Qin said that if the public could not express their views, the same crisis would only recur and public confidence in the government would be difficult to restore.

“The government has lost credibility now, and if [the public] don’t trust you any more, how can the government achieve its [national] goals in 2020?”

He said Wuhan officials were also caught between trying to contain the outbreak while facing criticism from the public and the central government.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, said the party would not relax control of speech.

“The news of his [Li’s] death will be very carefully managed and downplayed as much as possible. [Chinese President Xi Jinping] would not allow it to be used like the death of Hu Yaobang was in 1989.”

“[Xi] will double down and see the need to tighten control even further. The last thing he will allow is for him to appear weak.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×