The Chinese scientist who defied Beijing to publish the first coronavirus sequence has staged a sit-in-protest outside his laboratory after authorities suddenly evicted him.
Prof Zhang Yongzhen took to the steps outside the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center on Sunday, in a rare sign of public dissent in China.
It is the latest of a series of setbacks, demotions and attempts to ostracise Prof Zhang, who experts say has been “treated cruelly for years” for releasing the Sars-Cov-2 sequence without government permission in January 2020.
The move allowed health officials worldwide to test for the virus and kick-started the race to develop vaccines and drugs within weeks.
But the Chinese government – which denies the pandemic’s…
