US raises ‘deep concerns’ over disappearance of Chinese citizen journalist who reported on Covid-19 outbreak

Zhang Zhan, arrested in 2020 after reporting on coronavirus in Wuhan, has not been heard from since her expected prison release date, advocates say
US State Department calls for end to ‘restrictive measures’ – including surveillance, censorship and intimidation – against Zhang and others

Human rights in China

Hayley Wongin Beijing

Published: 7:00pm, 17 May 2024

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The United States has raised “deep concerns” over the disappearance of Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist who was expected to be released from prison on Monday.

Zhang, a former lawyer, was arrested in May 2020, about a year after she began reporting on Covid-19 from Wuhan, the epicentre of the initial coronavirus outbreak in China, where she live-streamed scenes of hospitals and the local pandemic response.

She was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a catch-all charge often used by authorities to stifle dissent – and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Days after she was set to be released, advocacy groups said they still had not heard from Zhang or her family.

The US Department of State released a statement on Thursday, saying it was “deeply concerned over reports that [People’s Republic of China] citizen journalist Ms Zhang Zhan has disappeared following her expected release from Shanghai Women’s Prison on May 13”.

It reiterated calls to “respect the human rights of Ms Zhang, including by immediately ending the restrictive measures that she and all journalists in the PRC face, which include surveillance, censorship, harassment, and intimidation”.

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Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years in jail for Wuhan coronavirus reports

Zhang was one of the few citizen journalists in China to report on the early experiences of people in Wuhan during the city’s lockdown.

She was the first to face trial for reporting on the pandemic in the central Chinese city and received the harshest punishment among several prominent peers including Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua and Fang Bin.

Washington previously called for Zhang’s release after she lost a significant amount of weight and reportedly was held in physical restraints and force-fed through a feeding tube.

The United States and European Union have denounced Zhang’s sentence and called for her immediate and unconditional release.

Zhang went on hunger strike in protest shortly after her arrest and remained on intermittent strike during her sentence.

Family members said her weight had dropped perilously low and she had to attend the trial in a wheelchair, but she pressed on with her hunger strike in protest against what she called an “unlawful detention and indictment”.

In 2021, Zhang was awarded the prize for courage at the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Awards. According to the Paris-based advocacy group, China is ranked 172 out of 180 countries on its press freedom index.