Chinese scientist who published Covid-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest
BEIJING (AP) — The first scientist to publish a sequence of the Covid-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest.
Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post on Wednesday, just past midnight, that the medical center that hosts his lab had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return and continue their research for the time being.
“Now, team members can enter and leave the laboratory freely,” Zhang wrote in a post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. He added that he is negotiating a plan to relocate the lab in a way that doesn’t disrupt his team’s work with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, which hosts Zhang’s lab.
Zhang had been staging a sit-in protest outside his lab since the weekend after he and his team were suddenly told they had to leave and were locked outside, a sign of continuing pressure on Chinese scientists conducting research on the coronavirus.
Zhang sat outside on flattened cardboard in drizzling rain, and members of his team unfurled a banner that read “Resume normal scientific research work,” pictures posted online show. News of the protest spread widely on Chinese social media, putting pressure on local authorities.
In an online statement Monday, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said that Zhang’s lab was being renovated and was closed for “safety reasons.” It added that it had provided Zhang’s team an alternative laboratory space.
But Zhang responded that his team wasn’t offered an alternative until after they were notified of their eviction, and the lab offered didn’t meet safety standards for conducting their research, leaving his team in limbo.
Zhang was awarded prizes overseas in recognition for his work. But Chinese health officials removed Zhang from a post at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and barred him from collaborating with some of his former partners, hindering his research.
Still, Zhang retains support from some in the government. Though some of Zhang’s online posts were deleted, his sit-in protest was reported widely in China’s state-controlled media, indicating divisions within the Chinese government on how to deal with Zhang and his team.
“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 his post Wednesday.