Every single bit of news and information coming out of China right now is controlled by the communist government to an excessive point.
There is very little citizen journalism that is actually taking place, and as a result, the government is being extremely sensitive about what is getting out there.
It’s really hard to believe anything that they are saying right now about the coronavirus. Any official report should be regarded as highly skeptical due to the country’s long history with distorting information to suit their interests.
Plus, almost on a daily basis now we see reports from trusted media sources that make us even more skeptical of what the Chinese government is telling the world regarding the virus’ spread.
For days on end, [Fang Bin] had been driving around the town, documenting every step of the way with his phone to show the life in a now locked-down city.
About 7 p.m. local time, six masked men wearing HAZMAT gear visited him and demanded to take his temperature.
“You’ve been to dangerous places,” one of them said to him. “We have to find out whether you are infected or not.”
The men claimed to be on-duty medical officers and that he was a “hazard” to others because he visited hospitals were patients sickened by the coronavirus were being treated. They broke into his home and ignored his repeated protests that he had no temperature — that he was fine.
But the half-dozen men weren’t there for him, per se; they were there to confiscate a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and his cellphone. And before long, Fang found himself at a police station, The Epoch Times reported.
Police interrogators accused him of “igniting a nuclear bomb” with images and video he reportedly uploaded to social media. He was accused of taking more from “foreign forces” before they threatened to keep him in quarantine for “creating fear” (yes, that’s a real crime thing in China, apparently).
“There should only be one voice, otherwise it will create chaos,” police told Fang.
In other words, only the government should be speaking to the world about the coronavirus China has unleashed on the world; that way, the propaganda can be carefully crafted and unchallenged.
Eventually, Fang was released and was given back his phone. But clearly, what happened to him was a warning: Don’t be uploading the truth to the Internet or it’s likely you’ll ‘disappear’ somewhere for a while, and maybe permanently.