The week
A bat research team investigating the origin of coronavirus in China has reportedly been seized
Assignments to monitor findings on the origin of the new coronavirus come directly from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. Beijing is not stopping the research – on the contrary, the government is spending a lot of money on study grants – but any new data is subject to approval by a government task force before publication. This is not the only way Beijing is trying to gain control. the situation, per AP. In southern China, there is an entrance to a mine shaft that once housed bats that housed the closest known relative of the coronavirus, which was first detected in Wuhan and caused the ongoing pandemic. As AP noted, the area is of ‘intense scientific interest’, as it may contain clues as to the origin of the virus and possibly prevent similar crises in the future. AP reports that it has become “a black hole of no information” for journalists, who were attracted by ordinary police, and scientists, including a team of researchers who collected the samples, to confiscate them, two people familiar with the case said. .Zhang Yongzhen, a well-known Chinese virologist, told AP that no one could finally return the virus to its roots, and most scientists believe that the virus first jumped from animals to humans in the wild (as opposed to a leakage from a laboratory). . But Beijing’s response underscores how politically sensitive the issue is. China apparently does not want to be blamed for the spread and has tried to suggest that the virus originated elsewhere, by pushing the theory through propaganda, misinterpretations or flawed scientific studies, and calls to look beyond China’s borders. “The new coronavirus has been discovered in many parts of the world,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a fax sent to the AP. “Scientists must conduct international scientific research and collaboration on a global scale.” Read more at The Associated Press. More stories from theweek.com 5 cartoons about the end of a very, very bad year ‘Irritated’ Trump will skip his New Year’s Eve party in Mar-a-Lago. Is the relief of pandemic the UBI inevitable?