Li Wenliang’s Wailing Wall, September 2022: “How to Voice This Desolation?”

by Cindy Carter | Sep 29, 2022

Two years and four months after whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s death from COVID-19, the “Wailing Wall” that emerged in the comments under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive Wailing Wall content, including the selection of comments translated below. In September, many Wailing Wall comments referenced current events such as the deadly bus crash in Guizhou province that killed 27 people and injured 20; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; the protests in Iran;...

If they sell to you, it’s 'technological imperialism.' If they don’t sell to you, it’s 'technological hegemony.' If they give it away, you suspect they have 'ulterior motives.' If they don’t give it away, it’s a 'technological stranglehold.'”

— Netizen comment under the People's Daily hashtag #U.S.RestrictionsOnSemiconductor
ChipExportsAreTechnologicalHegemony (#美国限制芯片出口是科技霸权主义#)

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Li Wenliang’s Wailing Wall, September 2022: “How to Voice This Desolation?”

Sep 29, 2022

Two years and four months after whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s death from COVID-19, the “Wailing Wall” that emerged in the comments under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive Wailing Wall content, including the selection of comments translated below. In September, many Wailing Wall comments referenced current events such as the deadly bus crash in Guizhou province that killed 27 people and injured 20; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; the protests in Iran;...

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UN Faces Internal Tensions Over Abuses in Xinjiang, Engagement with Chinese Initiatives

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Li Wenliang’s Wailing Wall, September 2022: “How to Voice This Desolation?”

Sep 29, 2022

Two years and four months after whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s death from COVID-19, the “Wailing Wall” that emerged in the comments under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive Wailing Wall content, including the selection of comments translated below. In September, many Wailing Wall comments referenced current events such as the deadly bus crash in Guizhou province that killed 27 people and injured 20; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; the protests in Iran;...

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Interview: Lynette Ong on “Outsourcing Repression” in Demolitions and Land Seizures

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Lynette Ong, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, joins CDT to discuss her new book Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China. In Outsourcing Repression, Ong investigates the methods by which the Chinese state has deployed nonstate actors, both violent and nonviolent, to seize farmland and demolish urban homes when it lacked the legitimate authority to do so. During fieldwork in Yunnan, Zhengzhou, and elsewhere, Ong examined the sticks, carrots, and persuasive methods through which the state exerts its influence on society without...

More Stories

Li Wenliang’s Wailing Wall, September 2022: “How to Voice This Desolation?”

Sep 29, 2022

Two years and four months after whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s death from COVID-19, the “Wailing Wall” that emerged in the comments under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive Wailing Wall content, including the selection of comments translated below. In September, many Wailing Wall comments referenced current events such as the deadly bus crash in Guizhou province that killed 27 people and injured 20; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; the protests in Iran;...

More Stories

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The CCP has become synonymous with surveillance. On an increasingly authoritarian trajectory, Xi Jinping has bet his and the Party’s longevity on its ability to not only neutralize challenges to authority but also anticipate them before they arise. Enormous investments in China’s surveillance apparatus over the past few decades, particularly during Xi’s tenure, have given the state an unprecedented level of access to the personal lives of its citizens, thereby unlocking new opportunities for social governance and control. These experiments in state control extend from Beijing to the...

More Stories

Despite Sentencing Tangshan Attackers, Authorities Ignore Violence Against Women

Sep 28, 2022

Three months after a group of men assaulted four women at a restaurant in Tangshan, a district court in Hebei sentenced the men to prison for a number of crimes. Their sentencing comes after authorities and state media attempted to quell public anger by sidestepping the underlying issue of gender-based violence and instead focusing on gang violence. Judging by reactions to the sentencing and other major #MeToo incidents that have recently surfaced, Chinese authorities continue to neglect, ignore, and censor the problem of violence against women. Surprisingly, as George Washington University...

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Human Rights

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Despite Sentencing Tangshan Attackers, Authorities Ignore Violence Against Women

Sep 28, 2022

Three months after a group of men assaulted four women at a restaurant in Tangshan, a district court in Hebei sentenced the men to prison for a number of crimes. Their sentencing comes after authorities and state media attempted to quell public anger by sidestepping the underlying issue of gender-based violence and instead focusing on gang violence. Judging by reactions to the sentencing and other major #MeToo incidents that have recently surfaced, Chinese authorities continue to neglect, ignore, and censor the problem of violence against women. Surprisingly, as George Washington University...

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Law

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Despite Sentencing Tangshan Attackers, Authorities Ignore Violence Against Women

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Three months after a group of men assaulted four women at a restaurant in Tangshan, a district court in Hebei sentenced the men to prison for a number of crimes. Their sentencing comes after authorities and state media attempted to quell public anger by sidestepping the underlying issue of gender-based violence and instead focusing on gang violence. Judging by reactions to the sentencing and other major #MeToo incidents that have recently surfaced, Chinese authorities continue to neglect, ignore, and censor the problem of violence against women. Surprisingly, as George Washington University...

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Viral Videos on Food Shortages and Quarantine Conditions During Shanghai Lockdown

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The CCP has become synonymous with surveillance. On an increasingly authoritarian trajectory, Xi Jinping has bet his and the Party’s longevity on its ability to not only neutralize challenges to authority but also anticipate them before they arise. Enormous investments in China’s surveillance apparatus over the past few decades, particularly during Xi’s tenure, have given the state an unprecedented level of access to the personal lives of its citizens, thereby unlocking new opportunities for social governance and control. These experiments in state control extend from Beijing to the...

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Hong Kong Police Use Colonial-era Sedition Law to Arrest Man Mourning Colonial Era

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Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, Hongkongers have used the subsequent period of mourning to air their emotions in rare public gatherings of political solidarity. The citizens of this former British colony expressed a mix of nostalgia for the past, dissatisfaction with the current leadership, and anger about the steady dismantling of civil rights since the city was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. While Hong Kong authorities initially showed restraint towards those gathered, on Monday night outside of the British consulate, police arrested one man for sedition...

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Taiwan

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Another U.S. Congressional Delegation Visits Taiwan, Beijing Restarts Military Drills

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