Beware! Authoritarians — using conspiracy theories — are changing minds in China and the USA.
In May, Wuhan Diary, the Chinese writer Fang Fang’s account of the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, was released in English by HarperCollins.
Fang is no radical. She’s the former chairwoman of the Hubei Provincial Writers Association, a government-linked group. She did criticize the initial coverup of the virus by local officials in Wuhan, but didn’t raise any questions about the response of the central government in Beijing, or about the authoritarian political system that encouraged the cover-up. Fang also generously praised low-level Communist Party cadres, front-line health workers and volunteers.
The book, adapted from a series of posts on Chinese social media, was published at a time when many across China were enraged by the death of Li Wenliang, a young Wuhan doctor who was punished for circulating an early report of the virus and then died of Covid-19. So one would think that Fang’s book would have been welcome—a very moderate assessment of the crisis, at a moment when many in China were already reflecting on the political system’s strengths and weaknesses in handling the virus.
That’s not what happened. Instead, Fang’s decision to have her diary published internationally unleashed a backlash in China—and not from the Communist Party, but from Chinese citizens online. The critics, mostly young people, accused Fang of failing to highlight the Chinese government’s success in containing the outbreak, and of being a tool for “anti-China forces.”
Don’t let the right build walls … when they wall out the truth. Nationalism — especially at the divisive, states’ rights, level — is the enemy of democracy and hinders rescue efforts like the condo disaster in Miami that would not a problem in a coherent, coordinated, strong, united country.
pepwine almost 3 years ago
Over a billion people and they all speak with one voice? That seems very strange, sort of anti human. Or anti humane.
Michael G. almost 3 years ago
The CCP use the same fact checkers as the RNC.
superposition almost 3 years ago
Beware! Authoritarians — using conspiracy theories — are changing minds in China and the USA.
In May, Wuhan Diary, the Chinese writer Fang Fang’s account of the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, was released in English by HarperCollins.
Fang is no radical. She’s the former chairwoman of the Hubei Provincial Writers Association, a government-linked group. She did criticize the initial coverup of the virus by local officials in Wuhan, but didn’t raise any questions about the response of the central government in Beijing, or about the authoritarian political system that encouraged the cover-up. Fang also generously praised low-level Communist Party cadres, front-line health workers and volunteers.
The book, adapted from a series of posts on Chinese social media, was published at a time when many across China were enraged by the death of Li Wenliang, a young Wuhan doctor who was punished for circulating an early report of the virus and then died of Covid-19. So one would think that Fang’s book would have been welcome—a very moderate assessment of the crisis, at a moment when many in China were already reflecting on the political system’s strengths and weaknesses in handling the virus.
That’s not what happened. Instead, Fang’s decision to have her diary published internationally unleashed a backlash in China—and not from the Communist Party, but from Chinese citizens online. The critics, mostly young people, accused Fang of failing to highlight the Chinese government’s success in containing the outbreak, and of being a tool for “anti-China forces.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/01/china-great-firewall-changing-generation#
Don’t let the right build walls … when they wall out the truth. Nationalism — especially at the divisive, states’ rights, level — is the enemy of democracy and hinders rescue efforts like the condo disaster in Miami that would not a problem in a coherent, coordinated, strong, united country.
Same2Ubuddy almost 3 years ago
You forgot to mention how aliens from Pluto are taking over our railroads and gas stations.