China warns Covid victims’ families to keep quiet

Thursday December 31 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Times. The Communist Party fears that the country’s handling of the pandemic could sow discontent among the public. CHINATOPIX/AP.

Shortly after a Chinese journalist used a private message to contact a resident of Wuhan whose son had just died of Covid-19, his grieving mother was telephoned by the local authorities warning her to keep quiet. Plainclothes police officers began to wander outside her home and Zhai Mian, 67, felt intimidated and backed out of speaking to the journalist. “I was told not to do any interviews and not to be deceived,” she told The Times. “Domestic media dare not interview us. Our stories now get no mention. We are not even allowed to speak.”