FCC Commissioner Accepts China’s Offer; Asks To Speak With Missing Coronavirus Whistleblowers
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is asking China’s communist government to give him permission to speak with the many disappeared citizen journalists who sounded early alarms on the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan.
On Thursday, a Chinese government spokesperson suggested on Twitter that U.S. officials should visit China to experience “freedom,” and the FCC commissioner accepted the offer, adding that first he wants to speak with the brave journalists.
In a Twitter thread posted late Thursday, Carr said he would first “like to speak with Dr. Al Fen”, a doctor who worked in Wuhan’s Central Hospital, who tried to warn about the virus and quickly disappeared. His list followed with eight other brave doctors and citizens who risked their lives to save countless others, but were never to be seen again.
2. Next, I’d like to speak with Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin – two video bloggers that tried to bring the world a glimpse of Wuhan unfiltered by your Communist regime.
Could you un-disappear them so we could speak?https://t.co/0ndiKKjQYZ
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2020
4. I’d then like to speak with Xu Zhiyong.
He was arrested after he criticized your party leader for his botched handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Could you un-disappear him so we could speak? https://t.co/8SLrohSMPs
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2020
6. Ok, how about the hero doctor Li Wenliang then?
He was dragged to a police station in the middle of the night and forced to recant the early warning he wanted the world to hear.https://t.co/8B8UNZKHK0
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2020
8. I’d then like to speak with Xie Linka who worked at Wuhan Union Hospital.
She joined other Wuhan health officials in trying to sound the alarm on Covid before being berated and forced into silence by communist officials.
Can I speak with her?https://t.co/Yx1V3Z3Byk
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2020
9. @SpokespersonCHN does your offer still stand? Or has it suddenly disappeared as things tend to do over there?
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2020
Carr concluded his Twitter thread with some scathing questions for the Chinese official: “does your offer still stand? Or has it suddenly disappeared as things tend to do over there?”
Carr has long been an opponent of China’s authoritarianism and has raised concerns over their influence in the U.S. and he’s now taking aim at China Telecom Corp’s which wants to implement its services in the U.S.
“It is time to reconsider our relationship with companies owned or controlled by the People’s Republic of China,” Carr said of the move in a statement Friday.
U.S. agencies, including the Department of Justice recommended Thursday that the FCC deny their operations citing “substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s operations.”
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