It’s almost hard to believe that it’s already been two years since the untimely death in Wuhan Central Hospital of the Chinese ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang, whose attempts to sound the alarm about COVID early in Wuhan were silenced by Chinese security officials. After being arrested on charges of disturbing social order and forced to sign a false statement that his concern over a new, highly contagious illness was an unfounded, illegal rumor, Dr. Li contracted the disease himself and passed away on February 6, 2020. He is survived by his wife, Fu Xuejie, and two sons — one born after his death.

We were reminded of Dr. Li’s passing by another Chinese national who knows well the horrific consequences that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) censorship can have. In a moving tweet, Cai Xia, a disillusioned former professor of Beijing’s Central Party School, highlighted the second anniversary of Dr. Li’s death and reminded the world that “The right to freedom of speech is the first line of defense for people to protect their lives.” She rightly points out that even today “Wuhan has not dared to announce the real death toll” of its outbreak, a figure that has been kept tightly under wraps — even though province-level records inadvertently indicate heavy casualties.

Not only were casualties vastly underreported; the Chinese government deliberately covered up the outbreak for several crucial early weeks. According to SCMP, government documents suggest that the first case of COVID in China can now be traced back to November 17, 2019, though health workers would face an uphill battle against CCP authorities in recognizing and reporting the virus until mid-January, when Beijing was forced, too late, to reverse its stance on a number of falsehoods it had spread related to the virus.

As the United States passes 900,000 confirmed COVID deaths — and the world reckons with more than five and a half million — Dr. Li’s death stands as a stark reminder of the CCP’s criminal suppression of knowledge about the virus in its pivotal early days. Dr. Li is one of many who were forcibly silenced for trying to get the word out; some like “citizen journalist” Zhang Zhan are still serving prison sentences under heinous conditions. They and Dr. Li should be remembered as the heroes they are for standing up to the CCP’s flagrant disregard for human life, and for seeking to warn the world of what was to come at the risk of their own lives and wellbeing.

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