Hayson Wang, who specialises in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, shares some insights into the way facial beauty is defined by science and in different cultures.

TCM treatment is said to have played a role in the fight against Covid-19 in China. The Beijing authorities recently sought public views on a set of proposed regulations on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which includes articles that mention punishments for those who “defame and slander” TCM. A furore ensued as the public worried about the expansiveness of the proposed law. Oxford University visiting researcher Hayson Wang thinks hard about what lies at the nub of the issue and what TCM proponents must do to bring TCM practice into the mainstream.

The race for a vaccine for Covid-19 has begun, with the US and China in the lead with clinical trials and testing. Oxford University visiting researcher Hayson Wang points out that countries will have to work together in order to develop an effective vaccine, rather than compete against one another.

At first, it seemed that the UK was adopting a rather lax approach to handling the outbreak, hoping to delay its spread, rather than contain it. But Hayson Wang opines that the government's perceived posture of "surrendering to the outbreak“ has actually spurred the UK public into taking more precautions. In recent days, both in response to rising criticism as well as rising fatalities — the death toll is currently 335 — the UK looks to be going the harsher way of some of its neighbours, announcing a lockdown that will last for at least three weeks.

Researchers possibly withholding information about human-to-human transmission, or publishing papers using someone else's research data... These are just a few of the controversies of the Chinese research system highlighted by the Covid-19 outbreak. How can the scientific community break out of the cycle of alleged unscholarly conduct?

Leave ideology out of it, says Hayson Wang, if policymakers truly want to design epidemic management strategies that are fit for purpose.

A wild peacock can easily cost up to 10,000 RMB, and is a way to show off new wealth, while regulating the sale of wildlife is also a thankless labour, and may not help Chinese officials gain merits and advancements. Medical researcher Hayson Wang examines the Chinese’s gastronomic, medicinal and economic appetites for exotic wildlife and the reasons why it is so difficult to regulate and stop wildlife trading in China.

The possibility of Covid-19 being a US-related biological weapon has been swirling around in the press and on social media. While little weight is given to the conjectures, just like in the case of sinophobia, a climate of fear could continue to cause panic and cloud China’s interactions with the world.

Wildlife trade comes under the spotlight again as the Wuhan coronavirus rages on. Will this finally galvanise the authorities to take a tougher stance and find a permanent solution?