China's Whistle is Blown, But Its Limitation on Free Speech is Not Over
Xinyi Qiu
When the Wuhan policemen forced Dr. Li Wenliang, the coronavirus whistleblower, to declare his own warnings as fraudulent, none of them anticipated the public opposition that the action would result in. As news of Dr. Li’s death reached social media, the hashtags #DrLiWenliangPasses and #WeWantFreeSpeech quickly received millions of clicks on Weibo, a popular Chinese Facebook equivalent.[1] Users flooded Li’s Weibo account with words of grief, comfort, and complaints about the government and society. For a time, citizens of different socioeconomic backgrounds voiced their dissatisfaction with the government online, and it appears as if the Chinese government was bending towards public pressure to loosen control over freedom of expression. This assumption is sadly mistaken.
As anger over Dr. Li’s death eased, the Chinese state media rushed forward to present other heroic stories, effectively diverting the public’s focus from Li, while the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) worked to eliminate social media accounts that spoke poorly of the CCP government, branding them as “political disinformation”.[2] Admittedly, Li Wenliang’s death is significant in bringing greater awareness to freedom of speech amongst Chinese citizens, but its impact on the state’s attitude towards freedom of speech is minimal. Through a comparison of measures that the government has undertaken before and after Li’s death, it is apparent that China will continue to exercise great power over its people’s opinions.
Dr. Li’s role in China’s coronavirus management raised awareness on freedom of expression as a crucial human right, benefiting society as a whole. Dr. Ai Fen, another silenced whistleblower, noted the Wuhan doctors’ collective helplessness as “[they] watched more and more patients come in as the radius of the infection became larger.”[3] Their efforts, combined with media exposure later on, formed a stark contrast to the seemingly ruthless policemen who tried to silence them in exchange for a peaceful pretense. It is reasonable to conclude that the public’s demand for free speech stems from this contrast, as well as a realization that the government does not place its citizens’ best interest at heart by attempting to paint prosperity over a portrait of destruction for which citizens are trying to hold the authorities accountable. Li’s death served as a catalyst to this process.[4]
It is important to note, however, that Dr. Li’s actions did not affect the Chinese government’s overall opinion towards freedom of speech. Since the founding of the country, the Communist Party has relied on political propaganda as a means of promoting its positive image and stabilizing domestic political conflicts. Even as China has become more socially progressive, this reliance has not changed. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the Chinese government has been tightening its grip on news media outlets to unify their opinions, particularly in their portrayal of the Chinese government and its adversaries. This set of principles was strictly enforced during the coronavirus pandemic. There were three distinct types of narratives as the coronavirus outbreak progressed from its initial transmission to a widespread outbreak and eventual steady decline in China. First, between the end of December 2019 to early January 2020, local and state authorities refrained from making public comments on the virus’ resemblance to SARS coronavirus and its contagious characteristics. Media sites such as Xinhua News and Liberation Daily adopted selective exposure to magnify friendly diplomatic engagements and drew attention to president Xi’s public appearances.2 People’s Daily, in particular, did not mention coronavirus at all until January 21st, 2020.[5]
From January 19th to early February, the CAC loosened its online censorship as a surge of criticism filled various social media platforms.[6] This was also a time when state-owned news agencies began to report a more honest narrative of the pandemic. However, the state government manipulated posts on user timelines so as to exaggerate local government (particularly that of Wuhan) blunders, shifting blame from the central government.[7] Additionally, the media continued to prolong the “positive and prosperous Chinese society” image by promoting inspirational figures that made sacrifices to help curb the pandemic.
As the outbreak eased within the Chinese border in March, the narrative on coronavirus shifted yet again. The growing numbers of infected cases in western countries were used to illustrate China’s superior capabilities in dealing with the coronavirus. The growing number of infected cases in the United States’ exemplifies the Chinese Communist Party’s “distinct political advantage.”[8] Moreover, the Chinese media frequently praised the country’s vast manufacturing abilities, which became advantageous for the rapidly growing demand for medical equipment and protective gear. The media outlets again avoided acknowledging errors and irresponsibility, reinforcing to the Chinese population what a powerful, influential, and effective government it has.
Within mass media coverage on the Chinese government’s handling of the pandemic, Dr. Li’s portrayal has been weakened into that of a dedicated doctor instead of a heroic whistleblower, particularly during the initial stage of the crisis. It was not until his own illness that the media began to report his whistleblowing in articles. Even then, the articles refrained from mentioning his forced silence, settling instead for neutral to conciliatory word usage such as “infected,” “doctor,” and “condolences”.[9] Still, Li Wenliang’s efforts to save the public from the pandemic and his unfortunate death have had such an impact among his fellow citizens that even pro-CCP individuals expressed disconcert over the government’s “stability-trumps everything thinking that’s [hurting] everyone.”[10] But the bulk of this discussion has occurred during the most stifling period of the outbreak in China, immediately after Dr. Li’s death on February 7th. As average citizens’ lives began to return to normal two months later, people became more thankful than angry towards the government as they received information on other countries’ growing coronavirus numbers, particularly those of the United States.[11]
Overall, the swift and somewhat aggressive measures that the Chinese Communist Party took to eliminate the virus within its borders combined with sufficiently positive media portrayal have softened citizens’ anger over forcibly silencing Dr. Li Wenliang. Therefore, while Dr. Li managed to induce fervent societal discussion on free speech in China for a time, it was not enough for the Chinese Communist Party to ease control over news and social media.
Xinyi Qiu studies at Washington University in St. Louis.
References
1. Verna Yu. "'Hero Who Told the Truth': Chinese Rage Over Coronavirus Death of Whistleblower Doctor." The Guardian, 7 Feb. 2020.
2. Sarah Cook. “China Media Bulletin: Coronavirus-era repression, propaganda, censorship, surveillance and more.” Freedom House, Mar. 2020.
3. Lily Kuo. "Coronavirus: Wuhan Doctor Speaks Out Against Authorities." The Guardian, 11 Mar. 2020.
4. Li Yuan. "How Thousands in China Gently Mourn a Coronavirus Whistle-Blower." Edited by Rumsey Taylor. The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2020.
5. Sarah Cook. “China Media Bulletin: Coronavirus-era repression, propaganda, censorship, surveillance and more.” Freedom House, Mar. 2020.
6. Beijing Newsroom. "China's Online Censors Tighten Grip after Brief Coronavirus Respite." Edited by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan. Reuters, 11 Feb. 2020.
7. Beijing Newsroom. "China's Online Censors Tighten Grip after Brief Coronavirus Respite." Edited by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan. Reuters, 11 Feb. 2020.
8. Vivian Wang. "China's Coronavirus Battle Is Waning, Its Propaganda Struggle Is Not." The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020.
9. Vanessa Molter. "Pandemics & Propaganda: How Chinese State Media Shapes Conversations on The Coronavirus." Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford Internet Observatory, 19 Mar. 2020.
10. Li Yuan. "Widespread Outcry in China Over Death of Coronavirus Doctor." The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2020.
11. Karen Gilchrist. "China Gets Top Score as Citizens Rank Their Governments' Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak." CNBC, 6 May 2020.