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Globe and Mail: China cool toward MD who told SARS truth Whistle blower treated both as hero and political threat, writes GEOFFREY YORK in Beijing By GEOFFREY YORK
Friday, May 23, 2003
He was lauded around the world for remarkable courage in exposing China's
cover-up of the SARS epidemic. But China cannot decide whether the mild-mannered
72-year-old military physician is a national hero or a political threat.
Jiang Yanyong is the whistle blower who, six weeks ago, forced the Chinese
authorities to admit they had concealed the truth about SARS. After more than a
month in the political wilderness, he was finally given grudging recognition in
the Chinese media this week, yet he remains barred from talking to foreign
journalists.
Dr. Jiang had a huge impact on the SARS crisis. In a letter to journalists in
early April, when Beijing was saying that only 12 people in the city were
infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, the doctor disclosed that the
true number of SARS patients was at least 100, including at least 10 who had
died -- a devastating revelation at a time of official deceit.
He even dared to criticize the health minister by name, accusing him of
abandoning the basic standards of medical integrity.
His bold action triggered a firestorm of controversy that culminated in the
sacking of the health minister and the Beijing mayor, followed by the
government's decision to finally admit the full scale of the disaster.
For a regime with a long history of deception and denial, this chain of
events is a revolution in official openness. It probably saved lives and it
represents a milestone in political accountability.
The authorities are bruised and resentful. Instead of praising the brave
doctor, they left him in limbo: officially ignored, never mentioned by
politicians, and strictly prohibited from talking.
As recently as May 13, the government was still pretending he didn't exist.
"We have not acquired any information about him," a senior Beijing
bureaucrat frostily informed a press conference when someone asked about Dr.
Jiang.
This week, suddenly, everything changed. Without a word of explanation for
their previous silence, some of China's most prominent state-controlled
newspapers began to publish admiring stories about the good doctor.
The official China Daily carried a large photograph of Dr. Jiang on page 2 of
its Wednesday edition, showing him at work among a pile of SARS clippings at a
hospital of the People's Liberation Army. An accompanying article described him
as "a famous surgeon" and "the first doctor to blow the whistle
on the misreporting of SARS in China."
Two of China's official news agencies wrote flattering articles about Dr.
Jiang's honest action, praising his "good medical skills" and
"his love for his patients." They quoted the motto of his alma mater:
"The truth will set you free in service to others," and they included
a powerful quotation from the doctor himself: "If doctors don't tell the
truth, more people will die."
The state media could not resist the temptation to heap excessive plaudits on
the government's handling of Dr. Jiang and the SARS crisis. One article quoted
the doctor praising the government's action against the disease. Several
articles quoted him saying that he was under no pressure to stay quiet. "I
haven't received any type of restriction," he reportedly said.
"My life remains completely as usual."
In a brief telephone interview with The Globe and Mail yesterday, however, he
acknowledged he's being silenced. "The hospital told me not to talk with
foreign media," he said.
Dr. Jiang, the son of a Shanghai banker, has suffered blows before in the
Communist state. After 11 years toiling at a military hospital, he was branded a
"counterrevolutionary" in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. He
was jailed for two years and exiled to a remote region to feed horses.
When the government crushed student protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989, he
treated dozens of the student victims, including several who died of gunshot
wounds. He was reportedly angered by the cover-up of that event, too. On the
10th anniversary of the crackdown, he said the government was lying when it said
that nobody had died.
Jing Jun, a sociologist and health expert in Beijing, said the flurry of
official articles about Dr. Jiang will help to protect him from retaliation by
government leaders who might be angered by his honesty. "It signifies that
he has another cover, one more safety net," Mr. Jing said.
"But whether it lasts is another question," he added in an
interview yesterday. "It's still very risky for an individual to go against
the system. It took a lot of courage. He was a loyal Communist person, exposing
a terrible problem. Around the world, whistle blowers often end up in trouble. I
hope he won't end up like most of them. If something bad happens to him, it will
be bad for all whistleblowers."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030523/UCHINM_4/TPHealth/
Posting date: 5/24/2003 |