Here in #HongKong, Commissioner Xie Feng is speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of #China in the HKSAR on the #coronavirus outbreak.
I asked Xie Feng about the death of Dr Li Wenliang (one of the whistleblowing doctors who warned authorities of a potential "SARS-like" outbreak in December, but was silenced) and whether the #Wuhan govt should apologize for his death (as called for by angry Chinese netizens).
In response, Xie Feng read the Wuhan govt statement (”The Health Commission wants to convey deepest condolences to Mr. Li’s family members...”)
He then reiterated how fast China responded to the outbreak, and this:
“Once the virus was identified, governments at all levels China were immediately mobilized and made all around plans for preventing and control the outbreak with speed and intensity.”
Answering a question by an FT reporter, Xie Feng went on to say: “The Chinese enjoy freedom of speech and access to information according to the law.”
“If you go online, you can see how freely and active people online engage in lively discussions bout the epidemic.“
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