Fang Bin
Fang Bin (Chinese: 方斌; pinyin: Fāng bīn) is a Chinese businessman, citizen journalist and whistleblower who used YouTube and WeChat to broadcast images of Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was arrested several times between February 1 and 9, 2020.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Fang.
Fang Bin
February 9, 2020
Wuhan, China
Found May 2, 2023
Broadcasting images of Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic
Fāng Bīn
Fāng Bīn
Personal life[edit]
Fang Bin was living in Wuhan, Hubei in January 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak hit China.[1]
Arrests of whistleblowers[edit]
In February 2020, Fang and two other citizen journalists and whistleblowers, Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua, were arrested and went missing in Wuhan. Chen, a lawyer who arrived in Wuhan on January 23, disappeared first on February 6; one week prior, he had uploaded a video criticising the Chinese government's manipulation of information which ended with the sentence "I am not afraid to die! You think I am afraid of you communist party?".[3][4] Li, another citizen journalist, went missing in late February,[5] but reappeared in April posting a neutral, patriotic video, in contrast to his previous tone.[6]
Two days before Chen's arrest, on February 4, the police came twice to Fang's apartment. He recorded the scene and refused to let them in without a warrant, worried that they had come in large numbers to arrest him (he counted at least four officers).[3] Fang kept making videos from his apartment during the following days, criticising the government's propaganda and its choice to arrest Chen and Li Wenliang.[7] On February 9, he released his last video: a 12-second clip showing a piece of paper with the sentence "all citizens resist, hand power back to the people" written on it.[7][8] In February 2022, Radio Free Asia reported that Fang was possibly held at the Wuhan Jiang'an District Police Station.[9]
In May 2023, it was reported that Fang had returned to his home in Wuhan following 3 years of imprisonment.[10][11]