China clamps down on research into coronavirus origins
LA TimesHuanan market vendor Jiang Dafa tends to his pigeons at home in Wuhan, China. The government is monitoring scientists’ findings and mandating that the publication of any research first be approved by a new task force managed by China’s Cabinet under direct orders from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by the AP. China’s foreign ministry said in a fax that “the novel coronavirus has been discovered in many parts of the world” and research should be carried out “on a global scale.” China’s leaders aren’t alone in politicizing research into how the pandemic started. An internal notice from a China CDC lab issued on Feb. 24 put in new approval processes to standardize publication under “important instructions” from President Xi. The samples could easily be tested again for COVID-19, although politics could determine whether the results are made public, said Ray Yip, the founding director of the China CDC.