Fang Fang

Some Chinese netizens responded with criticism or ridicule. Others questioned the truthfulness of her accounts or contended that she was spreading "hearsay". One of Fang Fang's critics is Zhang Boli—a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician— who spent 82 days working in Wuhan's front lines. Zhang criticized those who had expressed "distorted values," including Fang Fang, in an online speech he gave on May 12, 2020, about the national struggle to fight the virus. Fang Fang then contacted Zhang on Weibo for an apology, which prompted a heated debate on the social media platform. Netizens argued that Fang Fang, who resided in her villa and posting her diary online, did not have as much credibility compared to Zhang, who was a doctor in the front lines. Fang Fang's domestic supporters were primarily middle-aged people who saw her as holding government figures accountable. Academic and journalist Liang Yu described the debates in China about Fang Fang as "not a war between left and right, but between old and new." Responding to early criticisms, Fang Fang stated that she was "grieving and venting" and that her account was "absolutely consistent with the government's position". Domestic criticism of Fang Fang increased after it became public knowledge that her book Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City had been expedited for publication in English and German. Those who criticized Fang Fang contended that Fang Fang's writing was used by anti-Chinese elements to spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19's origins and to make unjustified criticisms of China. The gong-ringing daughter (who became famous on social media for trying to save her sick mother after her mother was refused hospital admission), condemned Fang Fang's writing about her. The gong-ringing daughter wrote that Fang Fang had "defamed" China by "weaponizing" the gong-ringing story. She also requested of Fang Fang, "Please do not include me in your diary, I don't wish to go abroad." Hu Xijin wrote: [T]he public has every right to express their strong dissatisfaction for the Diary of Fang Fang. This represents an important aspect of the plurality. Many people would feel differently about the Diary now that they have witnessed a much more severe humanitarian crisis going on in the pandemic-ridden US and can reconsider the combat against the outbreak in Wuhan in a larger context. In Wuhan Diary (2020), and also other sources, Fang Fang continuously insists that her diary is not in any way aimed against the Chinese government. In an interview for Caixin, she makes a point that "there's no tension between me and the country, and my book will only help the country" and that her "diary is by no means about the so-called negative things in China or deliberately peddling misery as misinterpreted by extremists. They take it out of context." Within China, Fang Fang has faced criticism, being labelled as a liar and "traitor" by users on social media platforms such as Weibo due to her perceived criticism of the Chinese government. Wuheqilin satirized her with his image Crown of a Jester, depicting Fang Fang as a court jester for a uniformed white master sitting on a throne and performing for Western journalists in the gallery. It portrayed her as having "handed over the knife" with which her "Western sponsors" could attack China. Fang Fang continued writing, however, despite the fact that some of her works have been blocked from publication. In the west, Fang Fang was met with almost unanimously positive reaction. Fang Fang's publishing house, HarperCollins states that her work is a display of courage to expose social injustice, corruption and sociopolitical problems that hindered the response to the pandemic. Fang Fang was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.