Zhang did not respond to Agence France-Presse’s inquiry about the investigation.
In this country, all non-state-approved information related to the pandemic is highly sensitive and has led to arrests and defamation activities on social media. Academia and scientists gathered around Zhang.
“Who will dare to speak out and do things based on his professional judgment in the future?” Yan Feng of the Fudan Literature Department said on Weibo.
According to a notice from the local government, a teacher in Jiangxi Province, eastern China, was detained by the police for 15 days after commenting last week that the country can “coexist with the coronavirus,” indicating a risk.
Since the virus first appeared in Wuhan, China has reported 94,430 cases, with 4,636 deaths unchanged for nearly a year.
But the recent outbreak at an airport in Nanjing spread to 18 provinces in two months, infecting 1,300 people-although only 13 cases of domestic transmission were reported on Monday.
