In a profoundly moving and damning account, renowned author Jung Chang has broken her silence to reveal the harrowing, solitary death of her 90-year-old mother in China, a tragedy she attributes directly to the state's brutal zero-Covid regime.
The writer of the globally celebrated memoir Wild Swans was cruelly barred from a final reunion with her mother, Qin, who died alone in a Chengdu hospital in October 2022. Despite being fully vaccinated and willing to undergo any quarantine, Chang's desperate pleas to Beijing officials and hospital authorities were met with a wall of cold, bureaucratic refusal.
A Final Plea Ignored
She was starved of company in the last weeks of her life,
Chang stated, her words heavy with grief and anger. Her mother, once a passionate communist, had become deeply disillusioned with the Party she once served, a sentiment Chang believes made her a target for neglect.
The ordeal exposes the grim human cost behind China's much-vaunted pandemic controls. While the state preached about protecting lives, its inflexible policies instead ensured a lonely and terrifying end for one of its elderly citizens, separating a daughter from her dying mother.
From Party Faithful to Disillusioned
Qin's life story mirrored the tumultuous history of modern China. A dedicated Party member and doctor, she endured persecution during the Cultural Revolution, where she was paraded through the streets and forced to clean toilets. Yet, her faith in the system persisted for decades.
However, in her final years, that faith shattered. Chang recounts how her mother grew to despise Xi Jinping's administration, criticising its authoritarianism and the suffocating control it exerted over every aspect of life, a control that ultimately dictated the terms of her death.
A System That Crushes Humanity
Chang's testimony is more than a personal tragedy; it is a powerful political critique. It underscores a chilling reality: in Xi's China, the dictates of the state invariably trump familial bonds, compassion, and individual dignity.
The zero-Covid policy is a manifestation of the control of the people,
Chang asserted, arguing that the lockdowns and isolation were less about public health and more about demonstrating the Party's absolute power. Her story is a stark warning of the human suffering that occurs when ideology is prioritised over humanity itself.
