Coronavirus in China: Widow of Doctor Li Wenliang Comes Out of Silence

An improvised memorial in tribute to the Chinese doctor Li Wenliang who died of the coronavirus on February 7, 2020 in Wuhan. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu / File Photo

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Since the death of the Chinese whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang on February 7, his wife has remained particularly discreet, but now she is breaking the silence. After almost four months without having given any news, she has just expressed herself on her Weibo account, the Chinese Twitter.

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With our correspondent in Shanghai, Angélique Forget

The last time Fu Xiejie, Li Wenliang's wife, spoke publicly, on February 8, the day after her husband died. A message from a few lines on social networks to denounce rumors about a fundraiser that she has launched.

Then nothing. Under pressure from the authorities, she declined all requests for interviews, she even remained silent when the authorities officially rehabilitated her husband and made him a "martyr".

On Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, she has just come out of her silence to respond to a proposal made by American deputies. They suggest renaming the Chinese Embassy square in Washington: "Doctor Li Wenliang Square".

The widow says she is very saddened by the news. Wenliang, she writes, was a member of the Communist Party, "  he deeply loved his homeland, he would never have tolerated that his name be used to harm him  ". A message that questions in the current context of tensions between Washington and Beijing. Does it really come from Fu Xiejie or should it be seen as the party's signature?

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  • China
  • Coronavirus
  • Health and Medicine

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