If China valued free speech, there would be no coronavirus crisis

Country could have contained spread of disease if only it had learned lessons from Sars outbreakThe death of the whistleblower Chinese doctor Li Wenliang has aroused strong emotions across China. Social media is awash with posts mourningthedeath of a martyr who tried to raise alarm over thecoronavirus but was taken into a police station instead for “spreading false rumours” and “disrupting social order”.Grief quickly turned into angry demands for free speech. The trending topic “we want freedom of speech”, which attracted millions of views, and links to Do You Hear the People Sing, a song popularised in recent Hong Kong protests, were quickly censored by police.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Science World news China Asia Pacific Source Type: news