Opera singer Chu Lanlan (39), director Wang Jingguang (54) and actor FuZucheng (82). They all died suddenly last month. Corona, many suspect, but acause of death is not mentioned in their obituaries. For example, the familyof soprano Chu Lanlan, singing at the Beijing Opera, said she was only “deeplysaddened by her abrupt departure.” At Wang Jingguang – known in China formovies like Never Look Back and Lawless – reported to his wife that hefell ill and that medical intervention had no effect.
They are not the only Chinese celebrities who suddenly succumbed since theremarkable turnaround in Beijing’s corona policy. Actor Gong Jintang alsodied, again without the cause being disclosed. The 83-year-old Jintang was inthe series thanks to his character ‘Father Kang’ In Laws, Out Laws wellknown to many Chinese TV viewers for almost twenty years.
In addition to celebrities, quite a few prominent scientists and businesspeople died last month. Sixteen scientists from well-known universities andinstitutes died between December 21 and 26. Business newspaper ‘FinancialTimes’ reported on several Chinese business executives who met the same fate.Only one scientist and a businessman mentioned corona as the cause.
Suspicion
The deaths of so many prominent compatriots are therefore arousing suspicionamong more and more Chinese. On Weibo, the country’s largest social medium,users speculate wildly. After Beijing radically overturned the zero-covidpolicy that leader Xi Jinping had maintained for so long last month, hospitalsare overcrowded with corona patients. The same would apply to morgues.
A long, but still incomplete list of celebrities in the Chinese arts &> culture circles who died recently. Celebrities’ deaths are more difficult to> hide, as their workplaces or families usually publish the news to show> respect. > Photo: Chu Lanlan, 39> y/o#chinacovid> pic.twitter.com/sN9QXwbYnO>> — Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 (@jenniferzeng97) December 26,> 2022
Many Chinese assume that the celebrities have succumbed to Covid-19. Theyquestion the official state figures, which refer to only a few dozen Chinesecorona deaths. Beijing uses strict criteria to count as a corona death.Moreover, figures on the daily number of new cases have not been shared sincethe policy change.
The suspicion of ordinary Chinese is heightened now that their own deceasedfamily and friends are also given a cause of death other than Covid-19 in theofficial death documents.
WHO: not a representative picture
Ordinary illnesses can also lead to death, says a Weibo user. “But now theyall die at the same time.” Another responds under the post in which FuZucheng’s son Fu Jia announces his father’s death: “Peace to the dead. Thisepidemic is serious. Mr. Fu Jia needs to take care of himself.”
Various Chinese respond to the obituary of 83-year-old actor Gong Jintang withdisguised criticism. “Rest in peace, Father Kang’” someone writes. “This wavehas already taken so many lives of the elderly, let’s make sure we protect theelderly in our families.”
The World Health Organization WHO stated on Wednesday that the impact of theepidemic, and in particular the number of deaths, is much more serious thanChina wants to appear. Experts think there could be a million corona deathsthis year. Partly due to the zero-covid policy, the 1.4 billion Chinese arerelatively poorly protected. The Chinese vaccines also protect less well thanthe Western ones, and relatively few Chinese have also obtained a booster.