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China is currently discussing whether it should coexist with the new coronavirus. Among them, Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, made a statement about 20 days ago that China should consider “coexisting with the virus” and was attacked by cyber violence. Immediately, Chinese doctors, popular science workers and some netizens called for support and protection of Zhang Wenhong, hoping to protect the voice of Chinese doctors.
Prior to this, the late Chinese whistleblower Li Wenliang was reprimanded for speaking out; the University of Hong Kong virologist Guan Yi was also attacked by the Internet for vocalizing on the epidemic in the early stage, and later disappeared from public view.
Zhang Wenhong once put CCP members in his department on the front line in the early stage of the epidemic in China, and said that he “cannot bully obedient people” and was praised by the public. He is also loved by the Chinese public for his frequent media interviews with popular science and golden sentences in humorous and easy-to-understand language.
From advice on the anti-epidemic route to discussion on the superiority of the system
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At the end of July, an epidemic caused by the mutated virus Delta occurred at Nanjing Lukou Airport, which spread to many provinces and cities in China. At that time, it caused concern among officials and the public. Chinese infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong posted a post on Weibo late at night on July 29 to assess the epidemic, and believed: āHow the world coexists with the virus, each country is making its own answer. China once gave a beautiful answer sheet, the Nanjing epidemic After that, we will definitely learn more.”
The attitudes of netizens to their Weibo comments are clearly opposed and divided. Supporters and opponents try to persuade each other in the comment area of āātheir Weibo to discuss whether the public should “coexist with the virus” topic.
Supporters believe that Zhang Wenhong, as a highly professional doctor, actively promotes popular science for the public after public health emergencies, and is popular among the public; opponents believe that Zhang Wenhong is ārespecting foreigners and fawning on foreignersā and must follow the overseas anti-epidemic model. .
At this point, the antagonism still remains among netizens. It wasn’t until the health client of China’s official media “People’s Daily” published an article by the former Chinese Minister of Health Gao Qiang, not naming and criticizing Zhang Wenhong’s views, and the discussion was elevated to the official media platform. In view of the lessons learned by Li Wenliang, the whistleblower of China’s new crown epidemic, Zhang Wenhong’s supporters realized that in the face of faint pressure from the state media, it is necessary to take a clear-cut stand to protect experts who dare to speak the truth during the epidemic.
Gao Qiang was the chief official who led China’s fight against the epidemic in 2002 during the SARS period. His major is in the field of economics. He graduated from the Department of Economics of Renmin University of China with a bachelor’s degree in world economics. He is currently the general counsel of the China Health Management Association. Gao Qiang’s articles use fierce words and use Cultural Revolution-style language. He believes that humans and viruses should have a relationship between “you have no one, you die and you live”, and China should “eliminate the virus in the ocean of the People’s War.”
Gao Qiang also believes that it is a “frustration” for Western countries to shift the blame for the rebound of the epidemic to the mutation of the virus. This is a mistake in epidemic prevention decision-making caused by political system defects in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries, and it is an inevitable result of advocating individualistic values. Humans have the correct strategy to deal with viruses, and even the most powerful viruses can overcome them; if humans make mistakes in their strategies to deal with viruses, no matter how weak they are, they will spread.
As a former health official, Gao Qiangās point of view focuses on emphasizing that China has institutional advantages, and that a strong nationwide mobilization capability is the key to responding to the epidemic, and life must be guaranteed at all costs. The outside world regards Gao Qiang’s signed article as an official response to the “coexistence with the virus” opinion and public opinion.
Politics and science confrontation
The Gao Qiang’s attitude of the former Chinese official reflects the Chinese government’s current anti-epidemic line of “protecting people’s lives at all costs.” On the basis of “clearing to zero”, China has launched a systematically advantageous propaganda offensive at home and abroad.
Zhang Wenhong expressed the hope to provide ideas for China’s fight against the epidemic from a scientific and professional perspective. Doctors in China belong to the stable middle class. They have a stable career, are respected by others, and rarely participate in political discussions.
To some extent, the new crown epidemic has highlighted the weakness of public health voices within the Chinese government system. Most of the Chinese government’s decision makers are from non-professional medical systems, and voices from the public health field are often ignored.
The group of doctors, popular science workers and some netizens hope to protect Zhang Wenhong’s right to speak to show respect for the professional field. The late epidemic whistleblower, Dr. Li Wenliang, was “admonished” for a heavy and painful experience.
Zhong Nanshan, head of the high-level expert group of the National Health Commission of China, was interviewed and said that the new pneumonia epidemic is believed to reach its peak in mid or late February.
Zhang Wenhong and Chinese media
Zhang Wenhong’s entry into the public eye began with a video calling for “Don’t bully the obedient” at the end of January 2020.
At that time, the epidemic situation in China was severe, and medical resources were severely run on. Zhang Wenhong, the leader of the Shanghai Medical Treatment Expert Team and the director of the Infectious Diseases Department of Shanghai Huashan Hospital, said in a video that he decided to change all posts in the Infectious Diseases Department of Huashan Hospital and ordered all CCP members to take up their posts and replace all medical staff on the front line. He said that there is no room for bargaining, and party members must accept unconditionally. No matter what reason they joined the party at the beginning, they said “to face difficulties” when taking the oath, and now they must honor their promises.
He said that the current doctors on the front line are “all great doctors”, and they have been exposed to the virus when they are ignorant of the risk, transmission and pathogenicity of the disease. He made the decision to change party members because he could no longer “bully bully the obedient.”
After this video came out, it triggered a screen-like response on major social media in China. Zhang Wenhong was immediately known by the public and won praise from the media and the public. After the Shanghai epidemic was brought under control, he frequently accepted interviews with Chinese media and conducted popular science propaganda on issues such as anti-epidemic methods and mentality. Because of its witty remarks and concise and appropriate metaphors, it makes popular science publicity easier to understand.
After rising to fame, Chinese media and netizens named Zhang Wenhong as an “Internet celebrity doctor”, and this was criticized by netizens, who believed that Zhang Wenhong was eyeballing and earning traffic.
Zhang Wenhong refused to accept the title of “Internet celebrity”, but he did not demean the “Internet celebrity”. In China, Internet celebrities are emerging professions, but their social status and credibility are not as high and respected as traditional professions.
He once said to the Chinese media: “If others become popular in this way unexpectedly, they may be very happy, because many people think that the more’net celebrities’ appear, the more money they make, but I am really not a’net celebrity’. “Net celebrities” are completely different. I respect the profession of “Net celebrities” very much. They are loved by many people. Net celebrities are directly linked to the economy, and I am not linked to the economy. Since someone asked me to appear on the show, I have appeared in general There is no charge, and I squeeze out my own rest time. I hardly go to the company to give lectures. Someone asks me what I do? What I donāt do, because the country has given us some honors for front-line medical workers, we There are still many responsibilities on shoulders. So, don’t call me “net celebrity”, call me Wenhong.”
In Zhang Wenhongās Weibo comment area, some netizens described Dr. Zhang Wenhong, āIt has always been the rigor of respecting facts and respecting science. In the nearly two years of the epidemic, I have never promoted any medicines, but just told everyone to protect them in time. Measures, pay attention to the safety of the epidemic.”
Guan Yi disappeared
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In January 2020, one week before Zhang Wenhong’s āpopularityā, Guan Yi, a virologist who had spoken out about the epidemic in the early stage, disappeared from public view after being attacked by the Internet. While speaking for Zhang Wenhong, Weibo popular science bloggers called for an apology to Guan Yi and Guan Yi’s fairness.
In January last year, Guan Yi and his team visited Wuhan to take samples, but he saw that the local health protection in Wuhan was not in place, and the work of finding the source of the animals was hindered.
The Chinese media “Caixin” published an article entitled “I’m Scared This Time” on January 23, 2021. Guan Yi criticized Wuhan for inadequate epidemic prevention measures and estimated that the scale of pneumonia infection in Wuhan would be much larger than that of SARS.
Guan Yi said, “It is conservatively estimated that the scale of the infection may eventually be 10 times that of SARS. I have experienced so many times. I have never felt afraid. Most of them are controllable, but this time I am afraid.”
After the article was published, Guan Yi was criticized by netizens for “demonstration” and “warranty talk”. The turbulent public sentiment once triggered criticism from the entire Chinese Internet. After that, Guan Yi rarely accepted media interviews and disappeared from public view.
Guan Yi is the director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong and an expert in the field of virology. He and his team were the first to isolate and identify the SARS virus and proved that wild animals such as civet cats are the direct source of SARS. , By recommending that the government ban the wild animal market, to curb the SARS outbreak and epidemic again.