Phuong Phuong: the writer is called a traitor by the Wuhan daily

It received much criticism from nationalists for newspapers that described life in Wuhan in the early days of the corona virus epidemic. But Chinese writer Fang Fang said she would not be silent.

“In the face of a disaster, it is important to speak up and give advice,” he told BBC Chinese in a rare interview with international media via email.

In late January, when Wuhan became the first place in the world to enter an absolute lockdown, many people in this city of 11 million people found comfort by reading the online newspapers of Phuong Phuong.

The articles also reveal to readers the situation in the city where the Covid translation first appeared.

Diaries posted on the 65-year-old writer’s Weibo account document her life alone with her dog in a lockdown, as well as what she describes as the flip side of the authorities’ response.

At first, his newspaper was very popular, but after that, there was a wave of criticism from those who considered the newspapers to be patriotic.

During the BBC’s 100 Women season, Phuong Phuong told the BBC why she did not regret speaking up, even though she was criticized and blamed.

Writer Phuong Phuong said she kept her diary as a process to help her “focus her mind” and reflect on what was happening in the blockade.

He writes about how isolated he is from the world; the general pain and sadness of seeing many lives lost; and anger at local officials for mishandling the crisis.

His online diary was initially nationally acclaimed as China News state media featured inspiring diaries “with vivid narrative, genuine emotion and style.” Right.”

But the reaction quickly changed as his diary gained worldwide attention and criticism culminated in the news that the diary would be translated into English and printed in a book by the US publisher Harper Collins.

“Due to the 60 newspapers that I wrote during the pandemic … the authorities considered me an enemy,” he said.

The Chinese media, he said, were ordered not to publish any of his articles. And his books, both new and reprinted, were boycotted by Chinese publishers.

“For a writer, it’s a very, very bleak thing,” he told the BBC.

“Perhaps because I have expressed sympathy for ordinary people instead of praising the government. I did not flatter or praise the government, so I am guilty.”

Phuong Phuong, whose real name is Wang Fang (Wang Fang), said the reaction was not limited to government protests.

He said he also received tens of thousands of defamatory messages, including death threats.

On social media, she was labeled a traitor, accused of conspiring with the West to attack the Chinese state, and it has even been claimed that the CIA paid her to write a diary.

Phuong Phuong said that she was shocked and found it difficult to understand due to the cruel level of the offensive attacks.

“I find it difficult to understand his hatred of me. The articles I write are objective and affordable,” he said.

The attack messages reminded him of the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1967, a period in which violent mobs acted that led to the purification of the intelligentsia and the “class enemies”, among them. people with connections to the West.

“The words used in the Cultural Revolution, such as ‘class struggle’ or ‘proletarian dictatorship’ reappeared. That means that China’s reform is on the path of failure and backsliding.”

After coronavirus ants spread phosphorus to almost every corner of the world, Phuong Phuong said China’s decision to blockade Wuhan for 76 days was correct. This is also the vision reflected in your journal at that time.

“A blockade is the high price we pay so that we can now live freely in Wuhan without the virus,” he said.

Wuhan has not registered any infections in the community since April.

“If strict measures had not been taken, the situation in Wuhan would have been out of control. So I expressed my support for most of the disease control measures.”

And he said other countries can learn some aspects of the Chinese anti-epidemic.

“During an epidemic, crowds of people were completely banned, everyone had to wear a mask and residents had to present a medical QR code to enter a building. I think these very good measures have helped China control the virus.”

But China’s success in controlling the national epidemic does not mean that it is not necessary to investigate the initial treatment of the epidemic by the government, according to Phuong Phuong.

“There has not been a comprehensive investigation into why it took the authorities so long to start handling the epidemic,” Phuong Phuong said.

She questioned why the National Health Commission initially said the viruses were ‘preventable and controllable’.

But he said the whole world, not just China, needs to learn from this pandemic.

“It is human ignorance and arrogance that has helped the virus to spread phosphorus so widely and for so long.”

Professor Michael Berry, who translates his journal into English, says that “your adaptability comes from knowing you are doing the right thing.”

“She was not a dissident, she did not call for the overthrow of the government; she was a person who recorded what she saw, felt and experienced in a blockade in Wuhan,” he said.

But through his diary, he explored bigger questions “not only about how to deal with the disease, but about the society that Chinese citizens want to build for themselves.”

In Wuhan, Ms. Phuong Phuong’s private life was in great turmoil when her 16-year-old dog, always with her in a lockdown, died in April. But she is adaptable.

He continues to write in the hope that his works will be published once again in his own country, and says he has no regrets.

“I will definitely not commit, and there is no need to remain silent.”