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【Simon Cheng 鄭文傑  | Coronavirus and Truth 武漢肺炎與真相 – The death of Dr Li Wenliang 李文亮醫生之死】

Simon Cheng, 29, is a former employee of the UK Consulate in Hong Kong. In August 2019, he was detained and tortured by Chinese authorities while being accused of inciting pro-democracy protests. He now lives in the UK.

鄭文傑，29歲，前英國駐香港領事館員工。2019年8月被中國當局指控其煽動示威而遭扣留及虐待。現居英國。

“I am worried about my family in Hong Kong since the coronavirus spread to the city. I want to talk to them but I have to rely on friends to send messages. My family have replied saying they understand. Their only concern is that I am living a happy life in the UK.

The death of Dr Li Wenliang is a terrible story. It concerns me that he and others have been detained for speaking out on what has happened in Wuhan.

According to Chinese media, hundreds of people have been arrested for supposedly spreading rumours relating to the virus. However, an interesting phenomenon is the anger that Chinese citizens have voiced against the government as a result of Li Wenliang’s death and other victims who were detained because they spoke out not through state media outlets, but with their own voices.

The backlash has rattled the regime, and this is because controlling public opinion is more important to them than dealing with the virus itself.

A lot of Chinese citizens now talk about freedom of speech online. However, I see this as ironic.

There are multiple cases of people such as Grandma Wong and myself who have spoken out against the Beijing government, only to be criticised by Mainland Chinese citizens.

It is only when a person speaks out about something that directly affects their lives, like what is happening in Wuhan, that they are outraged by censorship.

My question to them is, ‘why is this case so different from the others? Why is knowing the truth now so important when it was not before?’

I hope Li Wenliang’s death shows Mainland Chinese how important freedom of speech is in holding the government accountable.

Speaking out is not about being anti-China. It is about the truth. It is not just about your own life but all of our lives.

I am Simon Cheng; I am a HKer.”

「自從武漢肺炎[*1]傳到香港以後，我十分擔心我的家人。我很想跟他們談話，但現在只能靠友人傳遞訊息。我家人回覆說他們明白我的處境，只望我在英國生活愉快。

李文亮醫生[*2]之死十分可悲和恐怖。我對他與其他人因為說出武漢實況而被扣留十分介懷。

據中國媒體報導，數以百計的人因散播有關病毒的謠言而被拘捕。有趣的是，李文亮之死和其他因言被補的人士之所以激發起中國人民對政府的憤怒，並非因為這些人透過官方媒體發佈消息，而是他們使用自己的聲音把真相公諸於世。

這強烈的反彈震撼到政權，正因爲操控言論對政權來說比抗疫重要。

很多中國人民如今在網上熱烈討論言論自由，但我覺得這很諷刺。

大陸人民對之前幾個因反對北京政府而被補的人士，如王婆婆和我，都只有一面倒的指責。

但當有人講出關乎自己生命的事，就如武漢現況，他們才對言論審查感到憤慨。

我想問他們：「何以這件事跟其他的事不同？為甚麼現在知道真相才重要，而以前不重要呢？」

我希望李文亮之死可以讓大陸人民明白，要政府對人民負責，言論自由是何等重要。

直言不是為了反對中國，而是為了真相；直言不只是為了自己的性命，而是為了全部人的性命。

我是鄭文傑，我是香港人。」