A Chinese citizen journalist known for her reporting on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan has been sentenced to another prison term. This is reported by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
According to the organisation, a court in Shanghai sentenced Zhang Zhan to four years in prison on Friday for “quarrelling and provoking disorder” – a charge that Chinese justice often brings against activists.
“Horrifying. Chinese journalist Zhang Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison. She was first imprisoned for reporting on COVID-19 and then arrested again for covering rights abuses. Diplomats were not allowed to attend her trial and all details were withheld. Her persecution must stop,” RSF Advocacy Manager Oleksandra Bialakowska wrote on social media X.
Authorities arrested Zhang in May 2020, and in December of that year a court sentenced her to four years in prison for reporting on a coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan. She published videos of crowded hospitals and empty streets that depicted a more horrific early picture of the disease than the official version.
During the first months of her imprisonment, Zhang Zhang went on a full hunger strike to protest the mistreatment. According to RSF and some media reports, prison officials force-fed her through a nasal tube and sometimes left her handcuffed for days at a time.
Zhang, 42, was released in May 2024, but disappeared again in late August when a human rights group said she was arrested by police.
RSF notes that the journalist has been restricted from the outside world for the past year and almost all information about her whereabouts has been kept secret.
According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 123 media workers are now behind bars in China; the country ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index for 2025.