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Under a government directive, all studies on Covid-19 will need to be screened by central authorities. The government is attempting to control what is said about the epidemic and push through the idea that it did not originate in China. Wuhan's doctors were the first to be gagged.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - China is censoring scientific studies on the origins of the coronavirus, according to a government directive published - and thenimmediately removed-by the Fudan University of Shanghai and a university in Wuhan.

Under the new rules, any academic research on Covid-19 will need to be checked by a State Council working group before its possible publication. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in January, a series of articles written by Chinese scholars have appeared in the most prestigious international medical journals. In some of them, doubts arise about the official numbers of victims in China and how Beijing's leaders dealt with the emergency.

Speaking to CNN, a Chinese researcher claims that his government is trying to control what is said about the epidemic and pass on the idea that it did not originate in China. He maintains that this governmental screening jeopardizes the impartiality of scientific research in the country.

Beijing is accused of hiding the truth about the initial spread of the virus,gaggingWuhan's doctors, who first raised the alarm. Ai Fen, head of the emergency department of the central hospital in the capital of Hubei, was ordered to remain silent in order not to create panic. Ai, of whom nothing has been known since mid-March, has shared sensitive information with hercolleagues. They includedLi Wenliang, who then was arrested by the police for talking about the virus. Li died of the infection on February 7, followed by other doctors in Wuhan.

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CHINA Beijing censors scientific research on the coronavirus - AsiaNews