Inside Story

Has the coronavirus cracked the great firewall of China?

Online anger simmers after the disease kills a doctor who was punished for sounding the alarm.

China controls the internet more than just about any country in the world.

However, the censors are struggling to contain the outrage over the coronavirus outbreak.

There’s widespread anger that the disease has killed Li Wenliang, one of the first doctors to sound the alarm over the new virus.

He was arrested by police and forced to confess to “spreading rumours”.

Users of China’s social media network, Weibo, described his death as a national humiliation.

Even the state media is backing public calls for government leaders to say sorry for silencing him.

Can China’s leaders contain the online anger about the cover-up?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan

Guests:

Joseph Cheng – political activist with the Hong Kong pro-democracy group, Alliance for True Democracy

Einar Tangen – China analyst and adviser to China’s government on economic and development issues

Elliott Zaagman – cohost of the China Tech Investor podcast