Chinese activists confront censorship, violence to expose truth about outbreak & Chinese property tycoon 'disappears' after criticizing Xi Jinping's coronavirus response: report 26FEB & 14MAR20

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回饋人民！

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SOCIAL DISTANCING: SIX FEET APART IS BETTER THAN SIX FEET UNDER!

THE PRC CORONAVIRUS FLAG IS A REMINDER OF THE PRC GOVERNMENT WHO UNLEASHED THIS PANDEMIC ON THE REST OF THE WORLD

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SOME do not like that I have the prc coronavirus flag on most of my post with the message  "THE PRC CORONAVIRUS FLAG IS A REMINDER OF THE PRC GOVERNMENT WHO UNLEASHED THIS PANDEMIC ON THE REST OF THE WORLD"
They see it as racist and promoting discrimination against Chinese and other Asians in the U.S. and around the world. Others do not like my criticism of the drumpf' / trump-pence administration's response to the in the U.S., especially my criticism of drumpf / trump and pence. THE reality is the brutal thugs governing the prc are guilty of not alerting their own people and the world of this developing coronavirus Covid 19 pandemic AND they responded to Chinese citizens reporting on Covid 19 and the prc government's coverup by arresting activist, many of whom have not been seen or heard from since. Putting the prc coronavirus flag on my pandemic post is a reminder of what the prc government has done to their own people and the rest of the world (NOT MY) pres drumpf / trump often expresses admiration of dictators and no doubt wishes he had the ability to take the same actions against our free press and activist. This from the PBS NewsHour and The Hill.....

Chinese activists confront censorship, violence to expose truth about outbreak

PBS NewsHour

The spread of novel coronavirus in China has stabilized, but a battle between the country’s people and its government over information continues. In fact, several Chinese activists who raised alarm over the outbreak and the official response to it are now missing. Critics say the Communist Party is seeking to contain not just the virus, but also the details surrounding it. Nick Schifrin reports.

Read the Full Transcript

• Amna Nawaz:

  As we reporter earlier, the spread of the coronavirus in China has stabilized. But Chinese activists who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak and the official response are still missing.

  Nick Schifrin has more now on the battle over information between the Chinese people and their government.
• Nick Schifrin:

  When Chen Qiushi traveled to Wuhan to expose what the government hid, he knew the risks were medical and political.
• Chen Qiushi (through translator):

  In front of me is the virus, and behind me is the legal and administrative power of China. But as long as I live in this city, I will continue to report.
• Nick Schifrin:

  For two weeks, Chen documented hospitals that were overwhelmed, a pool of vomit on the waiting room floor, patients on stretchers unattended. In another video, he criticized the care at a makeshift hospital set up in a convention center.
• Chen Qiushi (through translator):

  Putting everyone into a space like this one, where patients aren't completely separated, there will definitely be the possibility of cross-infections.

  This temporary hospital looks a lot like a military field hospital or an emergency shelter set up in response to an earthquake or a flood. But it's not great for housing patients with an infectious disease.
• Nick Schifrin:

  The World Health Organization says the disease's spread in China has stabilized. And, today, some other regions have begun to normalize.

  But Chen documented the beginning of the outbreak, unafraid of the consequences.
• Chen Qiushi (through translator):

  I will only report what I see, what I hear. I really want to be blunt, right? Today, I'm going to say something blunt. Mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I'm not even afraid of death. You think I'm afraid of the Communist Party?
• Nick Schifrin:

  That language apparently got Chen detained. He hasn't been seen since. His mother took to social media to ask for help.
• Woman (through translator):

  I have not been able to get in touch with him. I'm here pleading that all people, especially those in Wuhan, please help me find my son. Help me find out what happened to him.
• Nick Schifrin:

  Chen is only one of the critics arrested in the last two months in a battle over information. Authorities detained lawyer and human rights activist Xu Zhiyong after he accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of trying to cover up the outbreak.

  A Wuhan resident told "PBS NewsHour" residents critical of the government's response have suddenly disappeared. But activists continued their work, posting videos of overcrowded Wuhan hospitals, patients lying unattended on the corridor floor.
• Xiao Qiang:

  The Chinese government is not only just trying to contain the virus. They're also trying to contain the coverage of this entire story.
• Nick Schifrin:

  Xiao Qiang is the editor in chief of the U.S.-based China Digital Times, a news site that focuses on content suppressed by China's state censors. He says the Chinese government could have decreased the outbreak's size.
• Xiao Qiang:

  By containing the coverage, by providing the censorship and denial and information withheld and propaganda, it destroyed the public trust that is very much needed at the time of fighting with the epidemic.
• Nick Schifrin:

  The Chinese government describes all of its efforts as necessary vigilance.

  And this is what Chinese media highlight: energized health workers fist-bumping patients, the formerly sick cured, flowers in their hands, thanking hospital staff. Nurses shaving their heads to increase hygiene. Chinese media called them — quote — "beautiful warriors."

  And people back in factories protecting their fellow workers. There is now a message of cautious optimism from the top. Last weekend, President Xi Jinping congratulated health workers, Chinese army commanders, and masses of people he called united in a people's war.

  The phrase hearkens back to Communist Party founder Mao Zedong mobilizing the masses to defeat a common enemy. Xi has acknowledged the virus posed a serious threat. More than 760 million people have had restrictions on when and how often they can leave their homes.

  Thousands of neighborhoods across he country have been on lockdown. Visitors to office and residential buildings scan Q.R. codes and fill in forms about travel history and body temperature. The World Health Organization has praised China's efforts as successfully reducing the virus' spread.
• Sylvie Briand:

  Those measure on movement restriction have delayed the dissemination of the outbreak of two or three days within China and a few weeks outside China,
• Nick Schifrin:

  But, inside China, residents know state media portray only the positive. And that has helped fuel social media videos that question the government's respect for human rights.

  This clip apparently shows a woman arrested for leaving her home without a face mask. Another shows a group of people dragged out of their home and quarantined. And this clip shows officials demolishing a game room to stop group gatherings.

  These tactics create mistrust and resentment, says Qiang.
• Xiao Qiang:

  Chinese people have now reached an understanding that it's this government failed them. This disaster, by and large, is manmade, and the authority, both the local authority and the central authority, bear a big responsibility for what's happening.
• Nick Schifrin:

  Fang Bin was a Wuhan businessman when he picked up his phone and began filming the city. He secretly filmed this video outside a Wuhan hospital.

  Fang posted another video saying government officials could sweep up anyone.
• Fang Bin:

  Maybe they won't go after me. It's possible. But I can't stay silent. If they don't come after me, they will come after you.
• Nick Schifrin:

  Another of Fang's videos was just 12 seconds' long, a scroll of paper with the words, "All citizens resist" and "Power back to the people." The same day, he was arrested and hasn't been seen since.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

• Chinese property tycoon 'disappears' after criticizing Xi Jinping's coronavirus response: report

• BY J. EDWARD MORENO - 03/14/20 09:36 PM EDT

A Chinese property tycoon is missing after criticizing Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that originated in the country in December, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Ren Zhiqiang, known as “The Cannon,” in the past has been one of the most prominent critics of Xi. Saturday morning his friends reported him missing, according to the Times. 

“We’re very worried about him,” Wang Ying, a retired entrepreneur and friend of Mr. Ren’s told the Times. “I will continue to look for him.”

His disappearance comes amid a campaign from the Chinese state to eliminate criticism of the government as the virus outbreak spread to infect 80,000 people in the country and killed 3,100.

As the virus took a biological and economic toll on China, citizens began to grow uneasy and critical of Xi’s response, which the administration quickly censored online. 

In recent weeks, an essay Ren penned criticized Xi and the government for silencing whistleblowers and trying to hide the the effects of the rampant outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan in December. 

This was not the first time Ren has been on the Communist Party’s radar: In 2016, the party put Ren on a year’s probation for denouncing Xi’s propaganda policies in comments online. He has also reportedly previously been banned from leaving the country and forced to delete his social media accounts because of his frustration with the government's authoritarian policies. 

Earlier this year, Li Wenliang, a doctor who spread messages warning people about the virus on the social media platform WeChat, was accused of making false statements by Chinese officials as the government sought to conceal the crisis. Li later died of the disease himself.