BEIJING (AP) – The first scientist in China to publish the sequence of the new coronavirus said he was allowed to return to his lab after becoming infected. I spent several days locked outside.sitting in protest.
Zhang Yongzhen said in an online post just after midnight Wednesday that the medical center that hosts his lab has “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return and continue their research for the time being. wrote.
“Currently, team members can freely enter and exit the laboratory,” Zhang wrote in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo. He added that he is negotiating with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, where Zhang's lab is based, about a plan to relocate the lab in a way that does not disrupt the team's work.
In an earlier post that was later deleted, Zhang and his team said the controversy began on Thursday when they were suddenly told they had to leave the lab for renovations. On Sunday, Zhang learned he was being shut out and began a sit-in protest outside his lab, a sign of continuation. Pressure on Chinese scientists We are conducting research on coronavirus.
In a photo posted online, Zhang was seen sitting outside on a flat cardboard box in the drizzling rain, while team members held up a banner reading “Resume normal scientific research activities.” It was spreading. News of the protests spread widely on Chinese social media, putting pressure on local authorities.
The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said in an online statement on Monday that Zhang's laboratory had been closed for “safety reasons” while it was being renovated. It added that it provided Zhang's team with an alternative experimental space.
However, Zhang responded on the same day that no alternative plans were presented until the team was notified of the eviction, and that the proposed laboratory did not meet safety standards to conduct research, leaving the team at a loss.
The dispute between Zhang and his host research institution is the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and expulsions since the virologist published his sequence without state approval in January 2020.
Beijing aimed to Management information regarding viruses Since it first appeared. An Associated Press investigation found that The government has frozen domestic and international efforts to track it. From the first weeks of the epidemic. In recent days, labs have been closed, research collaborations have collapsed, foreign scientists have been expelled, and some Chinese researchers have been banned from leaving the country.
Zhang's ordeal began on January 5, 2020, when he and his team decoded the virus and wrote an internal notice warning Chinese authorities of the potential spread, but the sequence was never made public. There wasn't. The next day, Zhang's lab was ordered temporarily shut down by China's top health official, and Zhang came under pressure from the authorities.
Foreign scientists soon learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had decoded the virus and called on China to release the sequence. Zhang published the paper on January 11, 2020, even though he did not have permission from Chinese health authorities.
Sequencing the virus is key to developing test kits, disease control, and vaccinations. The virus eventually spread to every corner of the world, sparking a pandemic, disrupting life and commerce, and causing widespread lockdowns and lockdowns. killed millions of people.
Zhang received an award overseas in recognition of his achievements. But health authorities removed him from his post at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and barred him from working with some of his former partners, hampering his research.
Still, Zhang maintains support from some within the government. Although some of Zhang's online posts have been deleted, his sit-in protests were widely reported in Chinese state media, demonstrating the divisions within the Chinese government over how to deal with Zhang and his team. Ta.
“Thank you to my online followers and people from all walks of life for your concern and strong support over the past few days!” Zhang wrote in a post on Wednesday.
