'Wuhan Diary' Author Fang Fang: "Attacked by Far-Left Forces After Revealing Life During Lockdown"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] When Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, where the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was first reported, was locked down, Chinese writer Fang Fang (方方, real name Wang Fang) documented it in detail and revealed it to the world. When her "Wuhan Diary" was published, she was instantly branded a traitor, and those who supported her faced humiliation such as dismissal and expulsion from the Communist Party. She criticized, "No one took responsibility or apologized for COVID-19."

On the 24th (local time), Fang Fang said in a written interview with the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP), "None of those who should be responsible have admitted responsibility, expressed regret, or apologized. Nothing happened."

Fang Fang exposed the horrors of Wuhan, which was locked down for more than two months starting January 23 last year, on her social media, and later compiled these into the "Wuhan Diary."

The "Wuhan Diary" became a bestseller overseas, and she was praised as the "conscience of China," but domestically she was branded a traitor. State media and some netizens criticized her for spreading baseless claims and betraying her homeland.

Fang Fang said, "I am over 60 years old, but I have never experienced such criticism in my life," adding, "I never imagined such a pandemic would occur or that I would be attacked online like that, so the biggest emotion I felt at the time was shock."

Nevertheless, Fang Fang said, "Everyone must record the truth," and added, "If people each record facts realistically, we can get as close to the truth as possible. If there are many records like mine, people can easily judge what is right and wrong."

In an interview with Hong Kong's Apple Daily on the same day, Fang Fang confessed, "'Wuhan Diary' was attacked by far-left forces as soon as it was serialized," and expressed concern, "I worry that my homeland is regressing to the era of the Cultural Revolution."

She later explained, "The despair I wrote about in the 'Wuhan Diary' was the despair of the patients," and said, "Until then, Wuhan's medical services were good and of a high standard. No one imagined a day would come when people could not go to the hospital or see a doctor when they were sick."

She added, "During the lockdown, the city was empty. It was the first time in my life I saw such emptiness. It was an emptiness that instilled fear."

Meanwhile, as of the 23rd, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, was reported to be 3,869.