Can one person provide a valuable example of what life is like in an authoritarian system? She can, especially when the story said person tells matches up squarely with the experiences that many other people have lived, or perhaps died. Dr. Li-Meng Yan is that latest person to bravely tell her story, but to do so, she had to first escape China. Dr. Yan was a virology and immunology specialist at the Hong Kong School of Public Health. She was among the first virologists in China who was initially asked to study the COVID-19 outbreak, but then found her work was stymied by the Chinese Communist government.
Her odyssey started in December 2019. She was asked by Dr. Leo Poon, Division Lead of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, to "look into the odd cluster of SARS-like cases coming out of mainland China." It was soon apparent to Dr. Yan that politics was entering the situation, as she said, "The China government refused to let overseas experts, including ones in Hong Kong, do research in China. So I turned to my friends to get more information."
Ponder that point for a moment. The Chinese Communist government prohibited foreign research into COVID-19 inside China, but also extended that prohibition to include Chinese virology experts in Hong Kong, a former British Protectorate that back in 1997 was transferred to mainland China, and which the Chinese government considers sovereign Chinese territory. It wasn't xenophobia that guided the decisions, it was fear that the extra measure of freedom in Hong Kong would allow actual research results to become public knowledge the world over.
When any government system obtains this much power, whether legitimately or criminally, it represents a mortal threat to society. Many people in the United States think the Chinese Communists masterminded all this cover-up to extract a political and financial benefit. That's only partially true. The uglier truth is that they did all this, and more, because it's what comes natural to them. They are used to having the authority to arrest and silently execute people for a whole host of reasons, and live comfortably knowing that they have the systems of fear in place to keep any protests, much less justice, tamped down.
Dr. Yan went on to state that through personal discussion with a scientist at the Center for Disease Control in China, she learned on 31 December that human-to-human transmission was known to have taken place. Yet, we know that on 9 January 2020, the World Health Organization officially reported, "According to Chinese authorities, the virus in question can cause severe illness in some patients and does not transmit readily between people. There is limited information to determine the overall risk of this reported cluster."
Yan goes on to report that it was at this time that the tone of research and information sharing changed abruptly. As Yan said, "There are many, many patients who don't get treatment on time and diagnosis on time. Hospital doctors are scared, but they cannot talk. CDC staff are scared." Yan added that the most common refrain she heard when trying to obtain clinical information from her associates in mainland China was, "We can't talk about it, but we need to wear masks."
On 16 January 2020, Dr. Yan reported to her supervisor her research results and clinical findings. Of her supervisor's response, Yan said, "As he warned me before, 'Don't touch the red line (the government).'" She added that she was warned to "keep silent, and be careful." Yan went on to say, "I already know that would happen (reprisals) because I know the corruption among this kind of international organization like the WHO to China government, and to China Communist Party. So basically, I accept it, but I don't want this misleading information to spread to the world."
For it's part, the WHO has denied that anyone Dr. Yan has mentioned "worked directly for the organization."
Most ominously, Dr. Yan felt she had to escape China, including Hong Kong, due to her knowledge of the situation. This ultimately forced her to abandon her husband of six years, who is also a scientist. Of her husband's last interactions with her, Dr. Yan said, "He was totally pissed off. He blamed me, tried to ruin my confidence. He said they will kill all of us."
She arrived in Los Angeles on 27 April 2020, and thought upon her initial meeting with US Customs that she would be arrested and possibly deported back to China. "I had to tell them the truth. I'm doing the right thing. So I tell them that, 'Don't let me go back to China. I'm the one who came to tell the truth here of COVID-19. Please protect me. If not, the China government will kill me.'"
Despite the Chinese authorities ransacking Dr. Yan's apartment, questioning her parents and husband, the Chinese embassy in the United States has officially said, "We have never heard of this person. The Chinese government has responded swiftly and effectively to COVID-19 since its outbreak. All its efforts have been clearly documented in the white paper, 'Fighting COVID-19: China in Action,' with full transparency. Facts tell all."
Yes, facts do tell the story. These facts in particular tell a story of government corruption, and clearly explain why Dr. Yan felt the need to flee for her own safety. Look at the documented treatment of several other doctors by Chinese authorities back in December of last year to January 2020. Dr. Mei Zhongming was placed under arrest for simply posting on social media, warnings to other health care workers at his hospital in Wuham Province, to wear protective masks and garments when treating COVID-19 patients. He was infected with COVID and died, in part due to delayed treatment while under arrest. Another senior doctor at the same Wuhan hospital, Ai Fen, disappeared from public view six months ago, and has not been heard from since. All she did was chair an emergency meeting with six doctors, including Zhongming, to brainstorm ways to control and treat the virus. All six of the doctors who attended that briefing were arrested.
When any government system obtains this much power, whether legitimately or criminally, it represents a mortal threat to society. Many people in the United States think the Chinese Communists masterminded all this cover-up to extract a political and financial benefit. That's only partially true. The uglier truth is that they did all this, and more, because it's what comes natural to them. They are used to having the authority to arrest and silently execute people for a whole host of reasons, and live comfortably knowing that they have the systems of fear in place to keep any protests, much less justice, tamped down.
If that knowledge rings an ominous similarity to the ongoing "Cancel Culture" in America, then it's only because it should. What it takes for tyranny to gain the upper hand isn't so much tyrants getting power, as for the people to stop caring, and put selfish interests and fear ahead of the integrity and courage to combat it. Eventually, those who gain their power from such apathy and fear become able to cover up a viral outbreak, until it turns into a worldwide pandemic that has so far officially killed over a half million people.
Sadly, the 549,000 people so far believed dead due to COVID-19 represents a pitiful fraction of the estimated 80 million Chinese who were killed just to install Communism throughout China. That tragedy continues today, as the pathetically questionable official tally of Chinese deaths due to COVID-19 remains around 15,000. The best indicator of the actual death toll is that during the COVID breakout, over 21 million cell phone accounts in China suddenly went quiet, and stayed quiet all this time.
When a nation is perfectly willing to play games of death against its own people, there should be no doubt what they are willing to do to people in the rest of the world. Dr. Yan fled China for her life, with very good reason, as she lived in an authoritarian society. The rest of us have very good reason to resist the ongoing efforts to turn America into one. Dr. Yan fled to America because America is the land of the free. It's sad that some in America never learned that, and appear desirous of forcing people like her to flee to somewhere else. We should embrace what makes us special, and remember that if social control is the goal, its a hopeless as well as evil goal. The truth emerges, even in a tyrannical system like Communist China, that is willing to murder doctors to keep uncomfortable truths silent. Eventually, a few brave people emerge with the truth.
-- Ken Stallings
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