Opera singer Chu Lanlan (39), director Wang Jingguang (54) and actor Fu Zucheng (82). They all died suddenly last month. Corona, many suspect, but a cause of death is not mentioned in their obituaries. For example, the family of soprano Chu Lanlan, singing at the Beijing Opera, said she was only “deeply saddened by her abrupt departure.” At Wang Jingguang – known in China for movies like Never Look Back in Lawless – reported to his wife that he fell ill and that medical intervention had no effect.
They are not the only Chinese celebrities who suddenly succumbed since the remarkable turnaround in Beijing’s corona policy. Actor Gong Jintang also died, again without the cause being disclosed. The 83-year-old Jintang was in the series thanks to his character ‘Father Kang’ In-Laws, Out-Laws well known to many Chinese TV viewers for almost twenty years.
In addition to celebrities, quite a few prominent scientists and business people died last month. Sixteen scientists from well-known universities and institutes died between December 21 and 26. Business newspaper ‘Financial Times’ 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 suspicion among more and more Chinese. On Weibo, the country’s largest social medium, users speculate wildly. After Beijing radically overturned the zero-covid policy that leader Xi Jinping had maintained for so long last month, hospitals are 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 Zeng Shingon (@jenniferzeng97) 26 december 2022
Many Chinese assume that the celebrities have succumbed to Covid-19. They question the official state figures, which refer to only a few dozen Chinese corona deaths. Beijing uses strict criteria to count as a corona death. Moreover, figures on the daily number of new cases have not been shared since the policy change.
The suspicion of ordinary Chinese is heightened now that their own deceased family and friends are also given a cause of death other than Covid-19 in the official death documents.
WHO: not a representative picture
Ordinary illnesses can also lead to death, says a Weibo user. “But now they all die at the same time.” Another responds under the post in which Fu Zucheng’s son Fu Jia announces his father’s death: “Peace to the dead. This epidemic is serious. Mr. Fu Jia needs to take care of himself.”
Various Chinese respond to the obituary of 83-year-old actor Gong Jintang with disguised criticism. “Rest in peace, Father Kang’” someone writes. “This wave has already taken so many lives of the elderly, let’s make sure we protect the elderly in our families.”
The World Health Organization WHO stated on Wednesday that the impact of the epidemic, and in particular the number of deaths, is much more serious than China wants to appear. Experts think there could be a million corona deaths this year. Partly due to the zero-covid policy, the 1.4 billion Chinese are relatively poorly protected. The Chinese vaccines also protect less well than the Western ones, and relatively few Chinese have also obtained a booster.