The US government has been exposed to attempt to decouple in the academic field of cancer therapy and has refused Chinese researchers to access the cancer database.

[Text/Observer Network, Xiong Chaoyi] While the outside world is focusing on Trump's rekindling of tariffs and trade disputes, a new round of actions by the United States in the scientific research and academic fields has resulted in thousands of Chinese scientists being denied access to the largest cancer database in the world.

According to a report by the Hong Kong South China Morning Post on April 9, since last Friday (April 4), researchers from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao have been denied access when attempting to log into the "Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results" (SEER) database managed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Instead, they received a cold system prompt: "Access cannot be restored at this time."

The SEER database covers 48% of the U.S. population, providing national data on cancer incidence, survival rates, and treatment plans, aimed at supporting scientific research and epidemiological investigations. Previously, the database had been open to researchers worldwide. However, according to a so-called "security update" released last week by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), institutions from specific countries including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have been completely banned from accessing it.

The South China Morning Post believes that this move by the U.S. is an indication of its attempt to decouple from China in the field of cancer research. Earlier, columnist Pan Yu of the Observer Network noticed that in early this year, a draft of the U.S. Congress's Biosecurity Bill targeted five Chinese biotechnology companies such as WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, restricting U.S. biopharmaceutical companies from cooperating with them. It can be said that the U.S. is accelerating its decoupling from China's biological manufacturing, regardless of consequences.

Photo: National Institutes of Health (NIH) official website

A researcher from a Chinese university, who wished to remain anonymous, said that this ban could be considered "a very serious scientific event."

"Many graduate students' research topics rely on this database for preliminary exploration work, and many projects require international data for verification. Now, with the critical missing link in cancer data, the practicality of research will be greatly reduced."

It was reported that these affected researchers were also prohibited from accessing other important databases under the NIH, including the Genotype and Phenotype Database (dbGaP), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the Genomic Data Commons (GDC).

This cancer researcher stated: "The databases currently being built in China are still unable to fill this gap."

The South China Morning Post reported that this "security update" was issued the day after Jay Bhattacharya took office as the 18th director of the NIH. On the day he assumed his position on April 1, hundreds of employees at NIH were either dismissed or advised to "voluntarily resign." Currently, at least five department directors and two other senior leaders within the agency have been placed on administrative leave or reassigned to new positions.

In fact, this is not the first time the U.S. has restricted data access. In February 2024, then President Biden issued an executive order to prevent so-called "countries of concern" from obtaining sensitive data.

As of April 9, major NIH databases such as PubMed Central (PMC) and ClinicalTrials.gov are still accessible to Chinese IP addresses. As important resources in the global biomedical field, PubMed Central provides free access to over 38 million citations and abstracts, aiming to promote global and individual health; ClinicalTrials.gov covers clinical trial data conducted in all 50 states of the U.S. and more than 200 countries around the world.

The report stated that if these core databases also implement bans, it will affect the daily work of millions of Chinese researchers and clinicians.

As early as March 2023, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who had just taken up his post as Australia's ambassador to the United States, once said that cooperation between the U.S. and China to combat cancer might be a new form of ping-pong diplomacy, which could bring some positive impact to bilateral relations. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning once stated that we hold an open and positive attitude toward public health cooperation with all countries, including the United States, and we are willing to work together with all parties to enhance the health and well-being of people worldwide.

However, for some time now, not only in the field of public health, but also in other areas such as drug control, the U.S. has not only destroyed Sino-American cooperation but even turned the blame on China. Since Trump returned to power, he has repeatedly imposed tariffs on China and even escalated the situation, recently imposing a so-called "reciprocal tariff" of 34% on China, deliberately provoking a tariff war and trade war.

On the afternoon of April 9, the Foreign Ministry held a regular press conference. A journalist asked about the U.S.'s imposition of a 104% tariff on China. Spokesperson Lin Jian of the Foreign Ministry stated that the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people cannot be deprived, and China's sovereignty, security, and development interests cannot be violated. We will continue to take resolute and effective measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Observer Network and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491233734578979378/

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