Reuters A Chinese professor who wrote a scathing essay criticizing President Xi Jinping's handling of the novel coronavirus was placed under house arrest and had his internet services cut, The Guardian reported, citing his friends. After returning from his Chinese New Year holiday, Xu Zhangrun was put under house arrest, with several people patrolling the entrance of his home in Beijing. Friends of the professor told The Guardian that Xu's social media accounts have either been removed or suspended. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. A Chinese professor who publicly criticized President Xi Jinping's handling of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus has been put under house arrest, banned from social media, and denied access to the internet, his friends told The Guardian. Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, published a scathing attack on the government's response to the virus outbreak on February 10.