Five Wuhan whistleblowers still missing and one is dead after exposing true horrors of coronavirus

FIVE Wuhan whistleblowers are still missing and one is dead after exposing the true horrors of coronavirus, it was claimed today.

Fears today emerged that critics of the government were being tortured for speaking out as the regime cracks down on citizens even discussing the pandemic.

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The Mail on Sunday today claimed more than 5,100 people have been arrested for sharing information over the virus in the first weeks of the outbreak.

And it reported any dissidents are being taken into medical quarantine and labelled as sick to stop them from speaking out further.

Other citizens are reportedly even being detained for posting questions online hinting at mask shortages or further deaths.

China’s huge online censorship system, which is known as the Great Firewall, is used to block any information the government deems to be “rumour” — or not a government source.

And footage filmed by citizens and posted online has shown people being violently forced to wear masks as well as being barricaded in their own homes in a bid to stop the spread of the bug.

The deadly bug is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, before sweeping across the globe with more than 161,000 deaths worldwide.

In the UK, more than 15,000 people have been killed by the bug.

But as the world continues to grapple with the virus, China has also now imposed new tough restrictions on academic research into the origins of Covid-19.

And human rights advocates have flagged concerns for a number of whistleblowers in China who have gone missing after speaking out.

Dr Li Wenliang

The hero Chinese doctor who tried to warn the world about coronavirus died after contracting the bug himself.

Doctor Li Wenlaing, 34, had been sent a chilling letter by the police before his death – warned “if he refused to repent he would be punished”.

The caution also told him to stop “spreading untruthful information online”.

Tragically, he died in February after contracting coronavirus through patients he was treating.

Ren Zhiqiang

Chinese millionaire Ren Zhiqiang went missing in March after calling President Xi Jinping a “clown” over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The real estate tycoon had openly criticised the Communist Party’s response to the epidemic online.

Mr Ren blamed the actions of a power hungry “clown” for failure to manage the outbreak, being widely understood to be referring to President Xi.

He also criticised the limits placed on free speech, and called on the party to “wake up from ignorance” to oust its leaders.

The tycoon’s work was shared around on internet message boards in China before he then vanished.

His son and his assistant are also reportedly missing without a trace.

Chen Qiushi

Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi went missing in February after exposing the severity of coronavirus in Wuhan.

He had reported on horrific scenes in graphic detail, including a woman frantically calling her family as she sat next to a dead relative in a wheelchair.

A panic-stricken friend told CNN: “We’re worried for his physical safety but also worried that while he’s missing he might get infected by the virus.”

His family was later told he was in medical quarantine at an undisclosed location.

Days before his disappearance, Mr Chen told his followers: “As long as I am alive, I will speak about what I have seen and what I have heard. I am not afraid of dying. Why should I be afraid of you, Communist Party?”

Fang Bin

Mr Fang’s disappearance is chillingly similar to that of Chen Quishi.

He uploaded a video on February 1 showing eight bodies outside a hospital in Wuhan – with police then seizing his laptop.

Days later, on February 4 he uploaded a video of men in protective suits trying to enter his home before he vanished on February 8.

Pierre Haski, president of Reporters Without Borders,  said both men are in “the hands of the Chinese authorities”.

He added there is “very little” information about what has happened to them.

Li Zehua

The 25-year-old journalist previously worked for the state broadcaster before quitting to report from Quhan.

But he has not been seen since February 26 after visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

US and British intelligence officials suspect bungling scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology accidentally spread the killer during risky coronavirus tests on bats.

Xu Zhangrun

Law professor Xu Zhangrun was put under house arrest in Beijing after voicing criticism of China’s president.

His piece warned: “This may well be the last piece I write.”

The Chinese professor was barred from social media and cut off from the Internet.

It has been claimed Patient Zero, the first person to contract Covid-19, was an intern at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who infected her boyfriend.

And the US has urged China to come clean as President Donald Trump stated the US was trying to establish if coronavirus first crossed to humans during the bat tests.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed out that the WIV was “just a handful of miles” from the live animal market which Chinese officials rushed to pinpoint as the source of the outbreak.