Death of a Hero Doctor Sparks Crisis of Confidence in Xi’s China

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government has worked hard to channel public anxiety over the new coronavirus into patriotic fervor. But the death of a 34-year-old doctor on Friday has unleashed a wave of fury that is sparking a rare crisis of confidence in the Communist Party.

Li Wenliang, who was sanctioned by local authorities after blowing the whistle on the disease last month, succumbed to the virus early on Friday. His death was immediately met with an outpouring of grief and outrage by hundreds of millions of social media users: They vented about how he was initially silenced, and mourned with the pregnant wife and young child he left behind.

Making things worse, reports of censorship and police intimidation swiftly followed his death. Many also expressed suspicion online that officials tried to stage-manage Li’s death after state-run media deleted initial reports of his passing and replaced them with news of doctors trying to revive him. The death was finally confirmed before 4 a.m., hours after reports first emerged.

Li had become a folk hero for speaking up, along with another seven doctors, about a mysterious new pneumonia they encountered in Wuhan — the central Chinese city where the pathogen originated. The eight were sanctioned by local police, though the Supreme Court criticized the move after a strong backlash from people who blamed the crackdown for slowing the local government’s response to the virus, losing a precious opportunity to contain it.

Beijing moved quickly on Friday to try and contain the growing outrage. The Communist Party’s top disciplinary body said it was sending a team to Wuhan to investigate the circumstances of Li’s death, a move that received approval by the Central Committee headed by Xi.