Originally published on February 11, 2020. Based on a Sankei Shimbun article, this essay discusses the growing demand for freedom of speech in China after the death of a Wuhan doctor who had warned early of an unknown pneumonia but was punished for allegedly “spreading rumors.” It criticizes the concealment structure of a totalitarian state through speech control, doubts over the official death toll, and the forced isolation of a Chinese lawyer who had investigated hospitals and crematoriums on the ground.

February 11, 2020
Following the death from infection of a doctor in Wuhan, Hubei Province, who had sounded an early warning about pneumonia of unknown cause but was punished for “spreading rumors.”
There were several articles today as well that prove that the Sankei Shimbun is now the most decent newspaper.
The emphasis within the text, other than the headings, is mine.
China: Criticism of Speech Control Intensifies
Beijing, by Yoshiaki Nishimi — In China, where the spread of the novel coronavirus continues, domestic public opinion demanding “freedom of speech” is rising.
This is because, following the death from infection of a doctor in Wuhan, Hubei Province, who had sounded an early warning about pneumonia of unknown cause but was punished for “spreading rumors,” the recognition is spreading that a society of speech control brought about the expansion of the damage.
Amid growing concern over the number of deaths announced by the authorities, it has also become clear that a Chinese lawyer who had been conducting on-site investigations of hospitals, crematoriums, and other locations was subjected by the authorities to a “forced isolation” measure.
“Will they not question the responsibility of the officials who spread the rumor that the virus was not highly contagious?”
On Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, in addition to mourning Dr. Li Liang（33）, who died on the 7th, criticism of the authorities’ speech control remains without being deleted.
There are also direct comments such as, “Give us the freedom to raise our voices.
This is a right granted to us by the Constitution.”
It appears that the reason is that there are too many to delete completely, but this is a situation that would have been unthinkable until now.
On the 7th, when Li died, the hashtag “We hope for freedom of speech” appeared on Weibo, and for several hours until it was deleted, more than 5,000 messages were posted.
The Tiananmen Square incident, in which a democracy movement was suppressed by force in Beijing in June 1989, began with memorial activities for Hu Yaobang, the former reformist General Secretary of the Communist Party, who died of illness in April of the same year.
In China, the death of a symbolic figure has repeatedly developed into a social movement, and the Xi Jinping leadership is strengthening its vigilance.
A portion of public opinion also harbors doubts about the number of deaths from the new pneumonia announced by the authorities.
As of midnight on the 10th, the number of deaths was said to be 908 in mainland China and 681 in Wuhan.
However, there is a view that if patients who died at home or elsewhere while still classified as suspected cases are included, the actual number of deaths from the new pneumonia would swell significantly.
Chen Qiushi（34）, a Chinese lawyer who also works as a “citizen journalist,” entered Wuhan on January 24 and had been actively transmitting the situation at local hospitals and elsewhere through American social networking services.
Chen confirmed the reality that the bodies of patients who died in hospitals or at home were left for long periods until funeral companies came to collect them.
He had been proceeding with his investigation out of suspicion that far more dead than the officially announced number were being sent to crematoriums.
However, according to his family, Chen was “forcibly isolated” on the 6th on the grounds that he had been active in hospitals.
In reality, this appears to have been detention intended to stop his investigation.
In an earlier post, Chen had said, “I am prepared to be infected or to be arrested by the authorities.”