By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Apr. 13: China has imposed added restrictions for universities undertaking research for Covid-19 as directives from the government mandated all materials undergo extra assessment before they are submitted for publication. These directives have now been deleted from websites of Fudan University and China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). These restrictions appear to be part of China’s broader push to “manage” research on the virus.
These leading Chinese universities are expected to go through research “with an emphasis on checking the accuracy of the thesis, as well as whether it is suitable for publication,” the regulation said. Another research university, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, was asked to seek approval for any Covid-19 related research from the science and technology ministry. Papers would only be approved by a special office in China’s ministry of education.
“I think it is a coordinated effort from (the) Chinese government to control (the) narrative, and paint it as if the outbreak did not originate in China. And I don’t think they will really tolerate any objective study to investigate the origination of this disease.” a researcher told CNN on the condition of anonymity. The Chinese researcher said that under the new restrictions, coronavirus research that contradicted the official narrative could be suppressed by Beijing.
“Academic papers about tracing the origin of the virus must be strictly and tightly managed,” read the directive issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology department. Chinese officials and state media have repeatedly stressed that there has been no conclusion on the exact origin of the virus. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, wrote on Twitter last month that the virus had originated in the US and was brought to China by the US military, attracting international ridicule.
The increased scrutiny surfaced as parts of Chinese social media and part of the government’s directives launched a rigorous campaign to question the origin of the virus. The contesting conspiracies such as the origin of the virus are many. Scientists in China and the West have said that the virus must have originated from bats and then jumped to humans from an intermediary host. Some claim that China manufactured the virus in a lab in Wuhan to become a superpower. Two lawsuits in Texas (US) and one in Bihar (India) have accused China of negligence in the handling of the virus whilst creating a bio-weapon.
As of Monday, the virus has claimed more than 100,000 lives and infected 1.7 million people worldwide since it first broke out in Wuhan, China in late December.
