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I'm also seeing some more critical views of the government show up on my WeChat feed. I think neutral views of the government/exhortations to stay positive amon

I'm also seeing some more critical views of the government show up on my WeChat feed. I think neutral views of the government/exhortations to stay positive among my contacts on my feed still wins out slightly, but there's definitely some pretty harsh criticism and in some cases, disillusionment. The Chinese government is probably keenly aware of the growing discontent and is unlikely to overplay their hand and crack down hard on communications, at least at the moment. For example, they could've decided to block all mentions of Li Wenliang from the Chinese internet (as has happened with many other things in the past), but they haven't, at least not obviously. If they did, I suspect discontent would explode.

allovernow 7y ago
I appreciate your perspective. As an insider, do you think we can trust recently published literature from Chinese sources regarding the virus? This article[1] for example is somewhat reassuring but I don't know if the numbers are trustworthy. On the other hand I imagine academia is at least somewhat insulated from the reaches of the government and academics are probably more likely to be willing to take risks to communicate truth. 1.https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.06.20020974v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.06.20020974v...
- dwohnitmok 7y ago
  I'm not sure how much I'd consider myself an insider... luckily I happened to not be in China when all this happened so I'm watching from afar as well (although I would like to go back for a bit when all this blows over). No real idea sorry. I mean things look more transparent than what happened with SARS (which I can get into detail about if you want) and there's way more discussion in various different online venues this time around (more people also have access to the internet), but I don't really think I have a more trustworthy opinion beyond that weak assertion. And on the ground, well there's a lot of conflicting reports as happens in any major event.
thaumasiotes 7y ago
> The Chinese government is probably keenly aware of the growing discontent and is unlikely to overplay their hand and crack down hard on communications, at least at the moment. For example, they could've decided to block all mentions of Li Wenliang from the Chinese internet (as has happened with many other things in the past), but they haven't, at least not obviously. If they did, I suspect discontent would explode. Censorship on the topic is apparently being felt. https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/still-90-chance-coronavirus-not-catastrophic-but-chinese-and-western-censors-arent-helping/ https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/still-90-chance-coronavirus-... > Dr Li died on Wednesday or Thursday from exposure to the coronavirus. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a young child. He is being dramatically mourned on social media sites, faster than the censors can scrub them. [Widespread Outcry in China Over Death of Coronavirus Doctor, by Li Yuan, NYT, February 7, 2020]( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/china-coronavirus-doctor-death.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/china-coronaviru... ) There have even been demands he be given a state funeral. > That bagpipe band playing “Amazing Grace” that I heard while crossing my living-room was a popular nonverbal way to mourn. The censors rely on keywords in text; it takes them longer to figure out nonverbal protests.

allovernow 7y ago

I appreciate your perspective. As an insider, do you think we can trust recently published literature from Chinese sources regarding the virus? This article[1] for example is somewhat reassuring but I don't know if the numbers are trustworthy. On the other hand I imagine academia is at least somewhat insulated from the reaches of the government and academics are probably more likely to be willing to take risks to communicate truth. 1.https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.06.20020974v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.06.20020974v...

dwohnitmok 7y ago
I'm not sure how much I'd consider myself an insider... luckily I happened to not be in China when all this happened so I'm watching from afar as well (although I would like to go back for a bit when all this blows over). No real idea sorry. I mean things look more transparent than what happened with SARS (which I can get into detail about if you want) and there's way more discussion in various different online venues this time around (more people also have access to the internet), but I don't really think I have a more trustworthy opinion beyond that weak assertion. And on the ground, well there's a lot of conflicting reports as happens in any major event.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

> The Chinese government is probably keenly aware of the growing discontent and is unlikely to overplay their hand and crack down hard on communications, at least at the moment. For example, they could've decided to block all mentions of Li Wenliang from the Chinese internet (as has happened with many other things in the past), but they haven't, at least not obviously. If they did, I suspect discontent would explode. Censorship on the topic is apparently being felt. https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/still-90-chance-coronavirus-not-catastrophic-but-chinese-and-western-censors-arent-helping/ https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/still-90-chance-coronavirus-... > Dr Li died on Wednesday or Thursday from exposure to the coronavirus. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a young child. He is being dramatically mourned on social media sites, faster than the censors can scrub them. [Widespread Outcry in China Over Death of Coronavirus Doctor, by Li Yuan, NYT, February 7, 2020]( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/china-coronavirus-doctor-death.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/china-coronaviru... ) There have even been demands he be given a state funeral. > That bagpipe band playing “Amazing Grace” that I heard while crossing my living-room was a popular nonverbal way to mourn. The censors rely on keywords in text; it takes them longer to figure out nonverbal protests.