Well, there are documented instances where agents of the state were attempting to silence whistleblowers. Presumably he's referring to Li Wenliang's experience

Well, there are documented instances where agents of the state were attempting to silence whistleblowers. Presumably he's referring to Li Wenliang's experience of being "punished" by authorities for "spreading rumors" in January 2020.[0] Or the experience of Li's colleague, Ai Fen, who "On Jan 2, 2020...was summoned by.. the party chief of Wuhan Central Hospital, who terrified her into silence with verbal threats."[1] That's hardly grounds for accusations of a grand conspiracy, but then, China has a track record of literally burying evidence that makes them look bad[2]... [0]https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/19/818295972/chinese-authorities-admit-improper-response-to-coronavirus-whistleblower https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/0... [1]https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/07/wuhan-coronavirus-covid-anniversary-interviews/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/07/wuhan-coronavirus-covid... [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenzhou_train_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenzhou_train_collision