China’s official line is that the country has “already achieved ‘strategic success’ in beating the virus,” write academics William Wang and Holly Snape in their article in The Conversation. “And yet, suspicion and doubt remain over the early days of China’s response to the epidemic.”
At first glance, it would seem that life in Wuhan and its 11 million citizens has gone back to normal. Yet the families of the COVID-19 victims in the city still seek justice for the loss of their loved ones.
An investigative report in the Financial Times shows that the Chinese government took no action in the crucial first days and weeks of the pandemic. Lawyer Bu Ping Ke* (not his real name, literally, “Indignant Man”) is a member of the legal advisory group for COVID-19 claims working with Yang Zhanqing, a human rights activist living in New York.
The human cost
The cover-up cost many lives, including that of Zhang Lifa. As reported in the Financial Times, his son, Zhang Hai, is a Wuhan native now living in Shenzhen. In January, Zhang Hai unwittingly arranged for the elder Zhang’s return to Wuhan for leg surgery. While in the hospital, Zhang Lifa contracted COVID-19 and died a week later. According to the newspaper, Zhang Hai is now trying to sue the Wuhan government for 2 million renminbi (US$294,000) in compensation. However, China’s party-controlled courts will not take his lawsuit.
There are at least six such lawsuits in progress. Zhang said that some kin of the coronavirus victims have been visited by public security personnel after they filed their lawsuits and gave interviews to the foreign media. He said, “The public security staff threatens them that all of the foreign media are anti-China and, therefore, granting them interviews is being against the Chinese Communist Party, which is a serious offense that would result in their arrest.”
Zhang described how the government tries to silence him and the others who have filed lawsuits. He said, “All our communication devices are monitored. Phones are under surveillance. We used to have a Weibo account with nearly 20,000 fans, but it was blocked.” His five accounts were blocked. Zhang said, “If we (the victims and the families) tell the truth, they will deprive us of all our fundamental rights.”
In a comment posted on Yang’s Facebook page, Bu Ping Ke said, “The government concealed the outbreak, failed to alert the public, responded incompetently, and allowed COVID-19 to explode out of control. This is the main reason why so many Wuhan citizens neglected to prevent the infection.”
Help from afar
Zhang and the other grieving families sought the help of Yang to file the lawsuits. Yang coordinates an underground group of lawyers based in China who secretly advise the families of COVID-19 victims. They appeal to the Chinese government and Chinese People’s Congress to hold the negligent officials in the city of Wuhan and the province of Hubei accountable and to set up a compensation fund for the grieving families.
The Wuhan intermediate court has rejected these suits through curt phone calls rather than official written explanations, as legally required, and without specified procedural grounds. Yang said, “The court did this to avoid creating a paper trail.”
Yang’s activism has exposed him to many false accusations on social media. A fake Zhang Hai has called Yang “a big liar” and claimed the activist had asked for 100,000 renminbi (about US$14,900) before helping him file his lawsuit.
The real Zhang Hai issued a statement to prove Yang’s innocence. He said, “I am very grateful to Mr. Yang, and I did not pay a cent to the legal advisory group for COVID-19 claims.” He added, “I resolutely sue the Wuhan local government for causing this man-made disaster. We should hold the government accountable.”
Ugly rumors
Yang has also suffered abuse from several online media outlets that publish pro-government propaganda. Media outlets such as JCZY Net (河南精彩中原网), HKHT News(香港大中华通讯社), International Daily News(国际日报网页版), ED Times India, and DW News(多維新聞) have published several articles to demean him.
Some articles depict Yang as conspiring with the US and deliberately targeting the failure of the Chinese government to contain the coronavirus. This month, DW News published an entitled, “Stray Dog Yang Zhanqing, Why Not Look at What’s Happening Around You?” It describes the activist as a “jester” of President Donald Trump who ignores the alarming coronavirus crisis in the US but focuses on the coronavirus outbreak in China.
The real Zhang Hai issued a statement saying, “I am very grateful to Mr. Yang, and I did not pay a cent to the legal advisory group for COVID-19 claims.”
JCZY Net is an online media under the guidance of the United Front Work Department of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and co-constructed by the United Front Work Department of the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. In August, the outlet published the article, “Decrypt the Consulting Group of Zhanqing Yang.” It featured a picture of Yang with officials of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, a bureau under the US Department of State, to show how Yang conspires with the US to “encourage his compatriots to sue their own government and incite people to hate their own country” and spreads criticism against the Chinese government globally.
One online newspaper depicts Yang Zhanqing as a “jester” of US President Donald Trump.
In fact, this picture was taken in October 2019. At that time, Yang lobbied the US Congress for the human rights cases of Sophia Xueqin Huang, an independent journalist who was arbitrarily detained, and Changsha Funeng Three, a Chinese health rights organization co-founded by Yang.
In many articles, Yang has been called humiliating names such as “a master of asking for compensation,” “a professional shit stirrer,” “a stray dog,” “a jester of Trump,” and “Hansan Hu,” a well-known villain in a 1974 propaganda film calling for a revolution against the Chinese Communist Party.
Another newspaper cites a pre-pandemic photo of Yang (second from the left), together with American officials, as proof of the activist’s purported collusion with the US.
A fabricated case
“I am coming back” is the famous saying of this villain who is a tyrannical landlord of a village. This line is now an Internet buzzword. Yang is described as a nuisance who “keeps coming back to make trouble and disturbance to society and the motherland.”
A fabricated sexual harassment case has spread on social media to besmirch Yang’s reputation.
A fabricated sexual harassment case has spread on social media to besmirch Yang’s reputation. A report published by ED Times India based in New Delhi reported that a victim of sexual harassment accused Yang of being the perpetrator of her ordeal. Suspiciously, in the last paragraph of this report, it praised the performance of China on controlling COVID-19 and compared it with the pandemic situation in the US.
Doubts have also been cast on Yang’s purported qualifications as a lawyer, something which he has never claimed to be. He is a well-respected human rights defender who joined Beijing Yirenping, a non-profit dedicated to promoting social justice and public health and focused on eliminating discrimination against disadvantaged groups such as women, carriers of hepatitis B and HIV, LGBT patients with diabetes and tuberculosis, and people with disability. The group took part in the policy advocacy work behind the laws concerning mental health, labor contracts, employment promotion, and food safety.
The battle continues
Yang said, “I have worked to defend human rights in China for more than 12 years. This is the first time I face this situation (being strongly discredited by the Chinese government and their henchmen by spreading disinformation against Yang).”
Today, no media in China dares to report on the battle of the families of COVID-19 victims. In contrast, the spread of fake news against Yang Zhanqing continues.
Yet the families, Yang, and other human rights defenders are still fighting. They also want to raise the awareness of the Chinese people about this issue. Bu Ping Ke said, “We might become victims one day if we ignore the misfortunes of the COVID-19 victims in Wuhan.” ●
* The pseudonym is used to protect the identity of the lawyer.
Li-Ang Chan is a human rights activist based in Taiwan.
