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  • Asia The forgiveness of Li Wenliang, the doctor silenced by China who warned about the coronavirus

Li Wenliang passed away shortly before midnight on February 6, 2020 at Wuhan Central Hospital.

Then he was resurrected.

Or rather they connected him to an artificial respirator to stretch a few more hours the irreversible dull life of a 34-year-old ophthalmologist.

It was necessary to try to calm the anger of a people vomited on social networks.

That night, something unheard of happened on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter: thousands of users were furious because the doctor who told his colleagues on December 30, 2019 that there was "a strange pneumonia of unknown origin" had died in Wuhan, but, subsequently, he was reprimanded by the police and accused of "spreading false information".

The

hashtag

"I want freedom of expression" accumulated thousands of comments.

Others like "Dr. Li Wenliang has passed away", added more than 670 million visits and critical messages against the government for censoring the doctor.

For this reason, to stop the sour popular reaction, in the Wuhan Central Hospital, despite the fact that state newspapers of the Chinese Communist Party had already confirmed the death of the ophthalmologist, they insisted on keeping him connected to a machine and denying his death.

Finally, Li Wenliang officially passed away at 2:58 a.m. on February 7

.

There was no resurrection possible.

The wave of outrage continued on social media.

The great censorship firewall had been broken.

Or, more in line with Beijing's behavior, it was allowed to break down, that pissed-off citizens, locked in their homes by confinements and with plenty of time to think, could somehow vent.

It never happened.

Although it did not last long.

Within hours, the communist machine of vituperation was in motion and eliminated all critical messages.

A year later, Li Wenliang's photo hangs on a mural at the large exhibition on the battle against coronavirus in Wuhan, alongside portraits of other doctors who were infected and died.

Although, next to his name, there is no mention of the reason why this doctor is so famous all over the world.

His story began when he got an alert from a doctor named Zhang Jixian

of the Provincial Hospital for Integrated Medicine.

She was the first to notify, on December 27, 2019, of that "strange pneumonia."

The ophthalmologist received the alert along with a photograph of the lung of a person who supposedly suffered from the new disease.

Li shared it three days later on Wechat -the Chinese WhatsApp- with the hundred people who are in the group of his university.

"

Do not spread the message outside of this group. Have your family and loved ones take precautions,"

Li asked.

But his information soon moved through social networks.

On January 3, the doctor received a surprise visit from the police because he had committed a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison: spreading false rumors.

He was taken to the police station and forced to sign the so-called "letter of reprimand".

That is, he had to retract his claims and promise, under threat, that he would no longer encourage the "fake" virus issue.

"We warn you seriously: if you continue to be stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue with this illegal activity, you will be brought to justice. Do you understand?" Read the note he had to sign before being released.

The doctor's misery continued on January 8, when he cared for a woman with glaucoma who carried the coronavirus.

Two days later, the symptoms hit the doctor: fever, cough, breathing problems ...

Li Wenliang passed away leaving a woman, a son and another on the way

.

In mid-March last year, following an internal investigation, the Wuhan Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection acknowledged that the Zhongnan Police Station, where the ophthalmologist was detained, had "issued incorrect instructions and followed irregular law enforcement procedures."

In addition, the report noted that the doctor "did not have the subjective intention of disturbing public order" after circulating information about the virus on WeChat.

Although they also pointed out that "he had not verified the information before sending it and it was not consistent with the real situation at that time."

This was the closest thing to a public apology from the Chinese authorities.

The state newspaper

Global Times

revealed that his death was considered a work accident, and that, as compensation, they offered his family 785,000 yuan (103,000 euros) and a funeral grant of 36,800 yuan (4,840 euros).

Three months later, Li Wenliang's widow gave birth to her second child.

She, Fu Xuejie, wrote a message dedicated to her late husband after the delivery.

"My husband, do you see us from heaven? Your last gift was born today. I will work hard to love and protect it."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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