Dissident swiftly arrested for blaming pandemic on Chinese state 'suppression'

Chinese officials have arrested a dissident who blamed the coronavirus pandemic on the regime’s “suppression” of doctors and journalists who could have warned Chinese people and the world.

“There were few independent professional media to investigate and report on the outbreak, nor did medical professionals provide independent advice to the public,” Shanghai-based constitutional scholar Zhang Xuezhong wrote in an open letter on Saturday. “It only shows that the government’s long-term tight control of society and people has almost completely destroyed the organization and self-help capabilities of Chinese society.”