Chinese Charge d’Affairs to Spain Gives Interview on China’s Coronavirus Response to Onda Cero Radio Program

On February 24, 2020, Yao Fei (姚飛), China’s then-charge d’affairs to Spain, was interviewed by Spanish radio broadcaster Onda Cero’s program “Más de uno” (“More Than One”) about the coronavirus pandemic. Acknowledging that the virus had caused a major public health crisis in China, Yao stated in the interview that China maintained a “policy of complete transparency” in its response to the virus in response to criticisms of the Chinese government’s secrecy around the virus that had emerged both domestically and internationally. Yao gave the interview shortly after the death of Li Wenliang (李文亮), the Chinese doctor who raised early alarms among his colleagues before dying of the virus himself. Asked about Li, Yao responded that the right to disclose information resides solely with the government and that “no individual citizen has the right or freedom to disclose this type of information,” which “can cause excessive panic in society.” The charge d’affairs also commented that measures taken to curb travel and trade with China were “excessive.”