Website that criticised Xi Jinping’s herbal Covid cure censored

Lilac Doctor was suspended after the site openly challenged the efficacy of a herbal remedy touted by the Chinese leader.

Xi Jinping ordered the remedy known as Lianhua Qingwen to be distributed to millions of Shanghai residents during their lockdown this year. Picture: AFP

A popular medical website has been censored in China amid claims that it is promoting ­Western, scientific treatments at the expense of traditional ­remedies favoured by President Xi Jinping.

Dingxiang Yisheng, meaning Lilac Doctor, was suspended after the site openly challenged the efficacy of a herbal remedy touted by the Chinese leader for use against coronavirus.

Mr Xi, a well-known supporter of traditional cures, previously ordered the remedy known as Lianhua Qingwen to be distributed to millions of Shanghai residents during their months-long lockdown earlier this year as a preventive measure against Covid-19.

Lilac Doctor, which has six million followers across social media, questioned the efficacy of the blend of ingredients such as honeysuckle and apricot seeds.

“Regrettably, Lianhua Qingwen cannot prevent Covid infection,” an article published on its website in April said.

“It’s truly unnecessary to distribute it to healthy residents.”

Officials did not confirm the reason for suspending Lilac Doctor and its related social media accounts, but state-run media has long been suspicious of such sites, arguing they could act as a platform for propaganda.

The website, also known by the acronym DXY, has been banned from posting on at least five of its Weibo social media accounts, with a notice at the top of its official page on Thursday saying that due to “violation of relevant laws and regulations, this user is currently prohibited from posting”.

Lilac Doctor’s official WeChat accounts, which typically publish multiple articles a day on medical topics, have not been updated since Monday.

Songshuhui, another science-based medicine website, was forced to close last year after it debunked false claims about experiments carried out by Japanese troops on Chinese people.

Lilac Doctor’s websites have previously told women that brown sugar water will not ­relieve menstrual cramping and that, contrary to long-held ­beliefs, it is fine for women to wash their hair in the month after giving birth.

The Times