The Chinese novelist who wrote a web based diary detailing the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan has been censored by authorities and is a virtual prisoner in her home, she told the Sunday Times of London.
Fang Fang, 67, said she is feeling “somewhat depressed” after facing pressure from Chinese authorities, who’ve banned her work.
Throughout the early days of the pandemic in 2020, Fang’s virus diary from the bottom zero of the COVID outbreak provided first-hand glimpses into town that was the primary to face severe lockdowns.
Her posts on Weibo — the Chinese equivalent of Twitter — chronicled her struggles living alone together with her dog in addition to the darker side of Chinese bureaucracy. They were read by tens of tens of millions of Chinese, who looked beyond the official posts of the Communist Party, which at first downplayed the hazards of the virus.
Although she faced a wave of criticism from the authorities prior to now, now she is a virtual recluse and her books are banned, she said. Fang is the pen-name of Wang Fang, who has lived in Wuhan since her early childhood.
“I’m not permitted to take part in any social activities, I’m not permitted to publish any essays, have any of my latest work published, or my old work reprinted,” she said in an interview with the Sunday Times of London this week. “For knowledgeable author like myself, that is the best punishment they might hand out.”
Within the interview, conducted by email, Fang called the federal government’s treatment of her a type of “cold violence.”
“All of those repercussions I’m facing are just because I recorded my experiences throughout the lockdown in Wuhan and published a book entitled ‘Wuhan Diary,’” she said. “I didn’t break a single law or violate a single rule. The entire thing is amazingly bizarre and utterly unimaginable.”
Following widespread protests earlier this month, the Chinese government was forced to reverse of its “zero-COVID” policies.
Fang said she began writing her each day chronicles on the suggestion of an editor at a Chinese literary journal. “That gave me the impetus to begin recording things, I started to post a record of what was happening,” she said. “The diary looked as if it would provide consolation for a lot of readers.”
Fang received quite a few death threats, which increased when Michael Berry, the director of the University of California’s Center for Chinese Studies, began to translate her posts into English under the title “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City.”
Now, her phone is tapped and she or he is subject to surveillance when she leaves her home, Fang told the Times of London.
The Chinese novelist who wrote a web based diary detailing the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan has been censored by authorities and is a virtual prisoner in her home, she told the Sunday Times of London.
Fang Fang, 67, said she is feeling “somewhat depressed” after facing pressure from Chinese authorities, who’ve banned her work.
Throughout the early days of the pandemic in 2020, Fang’s virus diary from the bottom zero of the COVID outbreak provided first-hand glimpses into town that was the primary to face severe lockdowns.
Her posts on Weibo — the Chinese equivalent of Twitter — chronicled her struggles living alone together with her dog in addition to the darker side of Chinese bureaucracy. They were read by tens of tens of millions of Chinese, who looked beyond the official posts of the Communist Party, which at first downplayed the hazards of the virus.
Although she faced a wave of criticism from the authorities prior to now, now she is a virtual recluse and her books are banned, she said. Fang is the pen-name of Wang Fang, who has lived in Wuhan since her early childhood.
“I’m not permitted to take part in any social activities, I’m not permitted to publish any essays, have any of my latest work published, or my old work reprinted,” she said in an interview with the Sunday Times of London this week. “For knowledgeable author like myself, that is the best punishment they might hand out.”
Within the interview, conducted by email, Fang called the federal government’s treatment of her a type of “cold violence.”
“All of those repercussions I’m facing are just because I recorded my experiences throughout the lockdown in Wuhan and published a book entitled ‘Wuhan Diary,’” she said. “I didn’t break a single law or violate a single rule. The entire thing is amazingly bizarre and utterly unimaginable.”
Following widespread protests earlier this month, the Chinese government was forced to reverse of its “zero-COVID” policies.
Fang said she began writing her each day chronicles on the suggestion of an editor at a Chinese literary journal. “That gave me the impetus to begin recording things, I started to post a record of what was happening,” she said. “The diary looked as if it would provide consolation for a lot of readers.”
Fang received quite a few death threats, which increased when Michael Berry, the director of the University of California’s Center for Chinese Studies, began to translate her posts into English under the title “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City.”
Now, her phone is tapped and she or he is subject to surveillance when she leaves her home, Fang told the Times of London.
