A mine shaft that once harbored bats with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus is of intense scientific interest because it may hold clues to the origins of the coronavirus that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.
Yet for scientists and journalists, it has become a black hole of no information because of political sensitivity and secrecy, says investigation conducted by Associated Press (AP).
A bat research team visiting recently managed to take samples but had them confiscated, two people familiar with the matter told the AP. Specialists in coronaviruses have reportedly been ordered not to speak to the press. And a team of Associated Press journalists was tailed by plainclothes police in multiple cars who blocked access to roads and sites in late November.
More than a year since the first known person was infected with the coronavirus, an AP investigation shows the Chinese government is strictly controlling all research into its origins, clamping down on some while actively promoting fringe theories that it could have come from outside China.
The government is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to scientists researching the virus’ origins in southern China and affiliated with the military, the AP has found. But it is reportedly monitoring their findings and mandating that the publication of any data or research must 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.
A rare leak from within the government, the dozens of pages of unpublished documents confirm what many have long suspected: the clampdown comes from the top.
As a result, very little has been made public. Authorities are severely limiting information and impeding cooperation with international scientists.
The AP investigation was based on dozens of interviews with Chinese and foreign scientists and officials, along with public notices, leaked emails, internal data and the documents from China’s cabinet and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It reveals a pattern of government secrecy and top-down control that has been evident throughout the pandemic.
