‘China’s Dr Fauci’, Zhang Wenhong, cleared of thesis plagiarism accusations

Shanghai’s Fudan University says an investigation found no evidence of academic misconduct
Supporters say Zhang’s critics owe him an apology

Medicine

Guo Rui

Published: 8:39pm, 23 Aug 2021

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One of China’s top universities has cleared a respected infectious disease expert known as “China’s Dr Fauci” of accusations of plagiarism.

In a brief statement on Monday, Shanghai’s Fudan University said it found no evidence of academic misconduct in the doctoral thesis of Zhang Wenhong, who became a household name in China for his advice on the coronavirus pandemic.

The university said it did not find any malpractice, only some minor irregularities in the review section of the thesis, which did not affect the quality of the research or amount to academic misconduct.

Zhang, from Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, became mired in a controversy last month after he posted on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, that the pandemic would not end quickly and the world might need to learn to “coexist” with the coronavirus.

In early August, former health minister Gao Qiang wrote in state media that China should not follow the United States and Britain in relaxing epidemic control measures because the approach had resulted in “serious consequences for the global efforts to contain the pandemic”.

“We must not make the same mistakes,” Gao wrote in an article published on the website of the China Health Economics Association, a government-affiliated think tank.

Online critics soon targeted Zhang, with some accusing him of “pandering to foreigners”.

Then about one week ago Fudan University confirmed that it was investigating accusations online that Zhang plagiarised part of his dissertation 21 years ago.

China’s Dr Fauci talks about coexisting with the virus. Cue social media storm

The 52-year-old doctor remained silent after the claims surfaced. But he returned to Weibo on Wednesday, saying he hoped people would adapt to pandemic controls as they became “normalised”.

He also wrote that China’s strategy – of strict preventive measures coupled with lockdowns and mass testing – was the “most suitable” for the country so far.

His reappearance in social media was read as a sign that the controversy over his “coexistence” remarks was over. Some of his supporters left messages online saying his critics owed the doctor an apology.

“Why not investigate whether Dr Zhang had any fights with his classmates when he was a child? Why not investigate if he had ever been late to school?” one supporter wrote.

“Those who made malicious accusations against Dr Zhang owe him an apology.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Top disease expert cleared of plagiarism