According to a stunning new report, a vlogger & citizen journalist named Chen Qiushi has allegedly been “forcibly quarantined” not long after his reports became widely shared across the globe.
According to the report in Time:
After nearly a week of roaming China’s epidemic-struck city, filming the dead and the sickened in overwhelmed hospitals, the strain of being hounded by both the new virus and the country’s dissent-quelling police started to tell.
Chen Qiushi looked haggard and disheveled in his online posts, an almost unrecognizable shadow of the energetic young man who had rolled into Wuhan on a self-assigned mission to tell its inhabitants’ stories, just as authorities locked the city down almost three weeks ago.
Qiushi, who is 34, showed true courage by defying the state line, presumably knowing the risk to his own personal well-being was extremely great. He had gained nearly 750,000 followers before the authorities shut down his channel.
From Time:
His voice trembling with emotion and tears welling in his eyes, he vowed to continue “as long as I am alive in this city.”
“Even death doesn’t scare me!” he said. “So you think I’m scared of the Communist Party?”
Last week, Chen’s posts dried up. His mother broke the silence with a video post in the small hours of Friday. She said Chen was unreachable and appealed for help in finding him.
Later that evening, his friend and well-known mixed martial artist Xu Xiaodong said in a live broadcast on YouTube that Chen had been forcibly quarantined for 14 days, considered the maximum incubation period for the virus. He said Chen had been healthy and showed no signs of infection.
This type of controlled behavior shouldn’t be surprising, as Faithwire has reported on the ongoing crackdowns of Christian churches in the communist nation, which highlights how dangerous it can be to stand up to the state.
Recently, it was revealed that China had anti-religion prison camps set up around the country. The Chinese government accepted an interview request in an attempt to explain, but it only made things worse:
Shocking Leaked Memo Reveals Grim Reality of China’s Anti-Religion Prison Camps
The communist government has also deported families for the crime of practicing Christianity. Just following the religion of your choosing, if it’s not the state government, could get you in serious hot water.
After Spying on Them for years, China Deports 13 South Korean Families for Practicing Christianity
Despite all of this, Christians have been boldly showing the love of Christ in the midst of the crisis, as Faithwire and CBN have reported.
Christians Boldly Share the Love of Christ on the Streets of China’s Coronavirus Hot Zone
Be praying for this man and all the people of China suffering from this outbreak and also the communist government.