He was the first scientist to sequence the corona virus and publish his results. Since then, virologist Zhang has been wrestling with the Chinese authorities – most recently with days of protest.
After days of protest, Chinese virologist Zhang Yongzhen is allowed to return to his laboratory. Zhang is the first scientist to publish a sequence of the Covid-19 virus in China in 2020. The medical center in Shanghai where his laboratory is housed has “provisionally agreed” to allow him and his team to continue working, Zhang wrote on the Chinese internet platform Weibo.
According to his own statements, Zhang was put on the street – a sign of the ongoing pressure on Chinese scientists researching the coronavirus. To protest, he sat on cardboard boxes outside the laboratory for days in the pouring rain. Members of his team unfurled a banner reading “Continue normal scientific research,” images posted online show.
Protest made waves
The action attracted attention and spread on Chinese social media. The state media also reported on his protest. This suggests that the government was divided over how to deal with Zhang and his team. The additional attention put local authorities under pressure.
The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center eventually said Zhang’s lab was being renovated and closed for safety reasons. Another laboratory space was made available to his team. Zhang replied that the laboratory offered did not meet the safety standards for his research.
Chinese authorities stripped him of his post
Zhang decoded the coronavirus on January 5, 2020 and warned the Chinese authorities about the possible spread of the virus in an internal communication. The next day, the top health authority ordered the temporary closure of his laboratory.
Foreign scientists quickly learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had decoded the virus and called on China to make the sequence public. Zhang released the sequence on January 11, 2020, despite health authorities not approving it. Sequencing a virus is key to developing testing kits, disease control measures and vaccinations.
Zhang has received awards abroad for his work. Chinese health authorities, however, stripped him of a post at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and banned him from working with some of his former partners.