China Silences Critics Over Deadly Virus Outbreak

“The system is successful in that it destroyed the people with integrity, the institutions with credibility and a society capable of narrating its own stories,” Mr. Xu said on social media. “What’s left is an arrogant power, a bunch of messy information and many fragile, isolated and angry individuals.”

Even as the new virus spread through Wuhan, the government took pains to keep up appearances.

The first case was reported Dec. 8. As the disease spread, Wuhan officials insisted it was controlled and treatable. Police questioned eight people who posted on social media about the virus, saying that they had spread “rumors.”

On Jan. 18, two days before Wuhan told the world about the severity of the outbreak, it hosted a potluck banquet attended by more than 40,000 families so the city could apply for a world record for most dishes served at an event. On the day it broke the news to the world, it also announced that it was distributing 200,000 free tickets to local residents for attending festival activities during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Saturday.

The central government backed Wuhan’s officials. Wang Guangfa, a prominent government respiratory expert, told the state broadcaster China Central Television on Jan. 10 that the Wuhan pneumonia was “under control” and mostly a “mild condition.” Eleven days later, he confirmed to Chinese media that he might have contracted the virus himself during an inspection in Wuhan.

Recognizing an outbreak can take time, and China is not the first government caught flat-footed by a disease.

But the choices made by government officials impacted a major commercial and transportation hub. Wuhan is a city of 11 million people, including nearly one million college students from across the country. By the time it disclosed the seriousness of the outbreak, the Lunar New Year travel season had already begun, a 40-day period during which Chinese people take an estimated three billion trips combined.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/business/china-coronavirus-censorship.html?emc=rss&partner=rss