People wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who was reprimanded for warning a…Read More
LONDON: Human rights advocates fear that the Chinese authorities have been secretly terrorising lawyers and activists speaking up about the coronavirus outbreak and are being branded as enemies of the state in the process.
Based on an investigation in the matter, The Daily Mail on Sunday uncovered a “cynical and orchestrated” campaign by the Chinese regime to stop the country’s 1.4 billion citizens from even discussing the appalling COVID-19 outbreak among themselves.
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More than 5,100 people were arrested for sharing information in the first weeks of the outbreak, dissidents are being labelled as sick so the government can place them in medical quarantine, also health apps used by some millions of people to show they are clear of coronavirus are being used to monitor people’s movements and further tighten control, the Mail stated citing the investigation.
The unprecedented crackdown began with reprimands issued to Dr Li Wenliang, 34, and seven other doctors for sending messages to fellow medics on December 30, warning them about the outbreak of a SARS-like illness in Wuhan Central Hospital and advising them to wear protective clothing.
Dr Li was forced to sign a police document saying he had ‘seriously disrupted social order’ and breached the law before he returned to work at Wuhan Central Hospital where he died of COVID-19 on February 7.
In the wake of it, the mainland’s Commu