China clamps down on coronavirus research, says findings can't be published without government approval
The Chinese government has imposed new restrictions directly impacting research on the origins of the new coronavirus. Researchers will now have to run their findings by the government before publishing results on the topic.
The notice makes the case for strictly managing studies on the new coronavirus. This means researchers will have to submit their findings to authorities from China's ministry of science and technology for vetting. It also added that authorities will critically examine research on the origins of the virus.
As for studies on other aspects of COVID-19, the policy demands that the academic committee of the college reviews them. Whether it gets published or not will depend on "the academic value and timing of the papers".
The new policy might help authorities control the narrative of the pandemic. “If these documents are authentic it would suggest the government wants to control the narrative about the origins of COVID-19 very tightly,” Prof Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, told The Guardian.
He added that Beijing has always been particular about their image since the outbreak took off. "In terms of priority, controlling the narrative is more important than the public health or the economic fallout," he said. "It doesn't mean the economy and public health aren’t important. But the narrative is paramount."
More specifically, they want to world to think they have done everything right and have given them time to prepare, Kevin Carrico, a senior research fellow of Chinese studies at Monash University, told The Guardian.
One Chinese researcher told CNN: "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," the researcher told CNN. "And I do not think they will tolerate any objective study to investigate the origin of this disease," he added.
This is not the first time China is clamping down on research. Earlier, they reportedly shut down a lab that published the sequence of the new coronavirus online.
The sequence, thanks to the lab, has helped accelerate research on the virus and in the development of vaccines, two of which are on clinical trials. However, it is still unclear whether the publishing of the sequencing data had something to do with the lab closure.
Of the two deleted posts, one seems to have appeared on the website of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, and the other on the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, according to The Guardian. However, the government has not confirmed whether the notice is a part of government policy.
"When the checks have been completed, the school should report to the Ministry of Science and Technology [MOST], and it should only be published after it has [also] been checked by MOST," the police read as per the Guardian.
But according to another researcher, studies on major COVID-19 topics are already thoroughly scrutinized. "It has always been the case," Wang Lan, the editorial director of the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, told CNN. "They have to be approved by three levels of organizations. It is a long process."