In the latest salvo against China, giving credence to American suspicions, a Chinese researcher, Dr Li Meng-Yan, has made damning allegation that the new coronavirus was created in a lab in Wuhan. She had earlier also hinted that China had covered up the Wuhan outbreak.
Li is the latest to fire salvos at China over the communist country's dubious role over the Covid-19 virus that has taken a tragic toll of over 921,000 lives and infected over 28.8 million people all over the globe. The virus that spread from its epicentre at Wuhan in Hubei province has pushed the world back by many years. It has made people poorer, snatched their livelihoods, ruined societies, and deprived every single individual of their peace of mind. In general, it has spread misery across the globe.
Even with so much devastation happening all around, the Chinese Communist Party, under President for Life Xi Jinping, remains unperturbed and unrepentant. China has, on the contrary, set its undiplomatic and wolf warrior diplomats loose upon the governments of the world. Way back in April, the UN chief had compared the devastation caused by the virus to that of World War-II.
Li, a virologist who lives in hiding in the US after fleeing Hong Kong, has made this sensational claim. She says she has evidence to prove that the Covid-19 virus is manmade and that it had originated in a military lab in China. She was working at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, which also has the WHO Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, when she visited Wuhan. Li even promises to publish reports proving that the now-notorious Wuhan lab is where the virus was manufactured.
She told ITV: "The genome sequence is like a human fingerprint. Based on this you can identify these things. … [There is] evidence to tell people why this has come from the lab in China, why they are the ones who made it. Anyone, even if you have no biology knowledge, [you] will be able to read it." The whistleblower has said that the much-touted wet market in Wuhan was a smokescreen. Her allegations will stick as Beijing has acted suspiciously right from the onset of the infection.
Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who had detected the spread of coronavirus in Wuhan in December 2019 was threatened and humiliated by the police. Weeks later he was dead of the same infection but not before he became a hero in the eyes of the public. The heroic doctor from Wuhan was also remembered by Cai Xia, a staunch critic of Xi and a former party member of the all-powerful CCP, who said that Li Wenliang should not have died.
Talking about the virus, Cai mentioned two important things—one was that China has hidden the actual numbers of dead people, and that people in Wuhan suffered a great deal due to the coronavirus. Cai made headlines around the world in August this year when she called Xi a mafia boss and was promptly expelled from the CCP. Her strident criticism of the party leader made news because she was one of the senior leaders and used to train officials.
She also denounced Xi for usurping the powers in the party and the country by making changes to the constitution. She has been consistently seeking more freedom for the people. The Chinese dissident has been vocal in her criticism of both the party as well as Xi. She told The Guardian newspaper that Xi has killed a party and a country and is facing much opposition in the country.
Cai also blamed the Leader for Life for diverting public attention by provoking conflicts with other countries like India and encouraging anti-American sentiment in the populace, making the world an enemy of China. Slightly before Li and Cai made headlines and also enemies, writer Fang Fang became an eyesore for China’s rulers.
Chronicling her daily diary as a resident of the world's first lockdown in January in Wuhan, her book, 'Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City', has not gone down well with the authorities, who feel that she has unfairly portrayed China and brought disrepute to the mighty country. A literary writer, Fang Fang was known for her writings even earlier. She released her book in May in English and subsequently published it in over a dozen languages, showing how well-received her book has been.
Her diary not only documents sensitively the life of the people caught in the virus vortex but also how the authorities responded to the outbreak. Her book also mentions how the common people were forced to bear the psychological trauma all alone with few volunteers to provide help or guidance. The fearless Li, Cai and Fang are taking on mafia boss Xi and the clueless CCP, shaking up China's image in the world, and also showing a mirror to the communist bosses.
Despite Xi's authoritarianism as the head of the country, of the armed forces and of the party, 2020 promises to be as unforgiving as the virus from Wuhan has been to the world's people.
