然后,吴花燕于本周一在医院去世――公众的同情很快变成了悲伤和愤怒。
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center">
The 24-year-old college student weighed just47 pounds when she died on Monday. Living in a Chinese village, sheate less to save money for her brother’s medical bills. Now she"sbecome an instant symbol of the harsh effects of poverty andhunger. https://t.co/wmYdk9R7n8
― The New York Times (@nytimes) January 15, 2020</blockquote>
描绘她虚弱、发育不良身躯的照片引发了人们的批评,即在中国领导人习近平誓言要消除极端贫困之际,官员们未能帮助到弱势群体。对许多中国人来说,吴花燕的处境是一个赤裸裸的提示,即尽管有党的承诺,尽管该国在经济上取得了飞跃,但在部分农村地区,贫困仍然是严峻的现实。一些人还把这场悲剧与吞噬公共资源的贪官问题联系起来。