leading "\*" issue from md to org

[haifenghan]

pandoc version: 3.1.8
command: pandoc --to org --from markdown -o stablehlo.org docs/spec.md

Line 4536 is a common text:

\* See: [Salmon et al. SC 2011. Parallel random numbers: as easy as 1, 2, 3.

However, it will become a headline of orgmode.

[jgm]

So, how should this be escaped in org? A backslash doesn't work. (Tried this with org export to HTML, and the backslash is part of the generated HTML.)
this link suggests using a zero-width space, is that the correct approach?

[jgm]

similar issues could arise for #, |, [, ].