The growing number of public figures whose deaths have been announced in recent days in China is leading the public to question the official death toll from Covid-19 tallied by the regime.
The death of opera singer Chu Lanlan, 40, in December came as a shock to many, considering how young she was. The artist’s family said they were saddened by the “abrupt departure”, but did not give details about the cause of death.
In December, China abandoned its strict Covid-zero policy and is currently seeing a rapid rise in infections and deaths. There are reports of hospitals and crematoria becoming overwhelmed.
But the country stopped disclosing the daily number of cases of the disease and recorded, since December, only 22 deaths from Covid. At the end of last year, China changed the criteria for defining deaths from the disease: now, only those who die from respiratory conditions, such as pneumonia, are accounted for.
On Wednesday (4), the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that China was underreporting the true impact of Covid on the country – in particular, deaths.
The deaths of Chu Lanlan and other personalities are generating speculation that they are part of a much larger amount of losses to the disease than those officially computed, although in the case of these public figures there is no certainty that they were caused by the coronavirus.
Another death that caused sadness and distrust was that of actor Gong Jintang, on New Year’s Day. Gong, 83, was known to many families for his role in the country’s longest-running TV series — in English, “In-Laws, Out-Laws,” which has aired since 2000.
The cause of his death is not known for sure, but many social media users have linked the actor’s recent death to that of other older people.
“Please, God, please treat the elderly better,” actress Hu Yanfen, one of the series’ cast members, wrote on the Chinese network Weibo.
“Rest in peace, Kang. This wave has really claimed the lives of many elderly people, let’s ensure that the elderly in our families are protected,” wrote one user on Weibo — Kang was the name of the character played by Gong Jintang.
Acclaimed screenwriter Ni Zhen, 84, also recently died. He became famous for the 1991 film “Raise the Red Lantern”, considered by several critics to be one of the best Chinese films.
Meanwhile, Hu Fuming, who was a journalist and retired professor at Nanjing University, died on Jan. 2 at the age of 87.
He was the lead author of a famous article published in 1978 that marked the beginning of China’s “Boluan Fanzheng” period—a time of relative normalization after the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong.
According to some calculations circulating in the Chinese media, 16 scientists from the country’s leading institutes died between December 21st and 26th. None of these deaths were listed in obituaries as being caused by Covid-19, but that hasn’t stopped speculation on the internet.
“Did he also die of the ‘bad flu’?” questioned comment on Ni’s death.
“Even if you search the entire internet, you won’t find any reference to the cause of death,” said another netizen.
But there was also criticism of the protesters who, in rare protests, took to the streets in November calling for an end to the zero Covid policy spearheaded by leader Xi Jinping.
“Are these people happy now, seeing old people now paving the way for their freedom?” wrote one internet user.
Xi appeared to indirectly refer to the protests in his New Year speech, when he said it was natural in such a large country for people to have different opinions. But he urged people to unite in China’s new phase of fighting Covid.
Chinese authorities are aware of widespread skepticism about their policy and released data, but they continue to downplay the severity of the current wave of Covid.
In an interview with state TV, the director of the Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Beijing admitted that the number of elderly deaths so far is “definitely higher” than in previous years, while pointing out that severe cases remain a minority of the total number of Covid-19 cases.
This week, the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, urged citizens to work towards a “final victory” over Covid and dismissed criticism of the old Covid-zero policy.
This text was originally published here.
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