Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, traveled to the central Chinese city in February to report on the pandemic and subsequent attempts to contain it, just as authorities began to reign over private, state-run Chinese media.
She disappeared from Wuhan in May and was later revealed to have been arrested by police in Shanghai, a city more than 640 kilometers away, and charged with “disputing and causing trouble”, a crime that is used. usually to attack journalists and human rights activists.
Zhang is the first citizen journalist known to have been sentenced for his role in reporting on the coronavirus pandemic.
Zhang is one of several independent journalists who have been arrested or missing in China since the beginning of the pandemic, as authorities halted coverage of the virus and propaganda outlets began to override Beijing’s response as effective and timely.
In February, Chen Qiushi, who had broadcast live videos of Wuhan during the city’s closure and posted reports on social media, disappeared. In September, he was reportedly under “state supervision.” Two other independent journalists – Li Zehua and Fang Bin – were also arrested after their coverage of the Wuhan outbreak.
“Under the guise of fighting the new coronavirus, Chinese authorities have stepped up online suppression by blocking independent reports, exchanging information and critical comments on government responses,” said Chinese human rights defenders, a group based in Hong Kong, in a previous report. this year.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), China is the world’s largest prison of journalists and strictly controls the home press while blocking most foreign media through the Great Firewall, its broad censorship and surveillance apparatus in line.
In March, China expelled journalists from the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, in an unprecedented move against the foreign press. Beijing said the move, which came amid a wave of critical reports about China’s initial response to the coronavirus, was a response to Washington’s recent restrictions on the operation of Chinese state media in the United States. .
Although sporadic outbreaks have appeared and have been quickly suppressed with blockades and quarantines, China has largely controlled the virus, allowing the country to return to relative normalcy.
However, restrictions on the press have not been lifted and Chinese state media have begun aggressively pushing for a story of alternative origin for the pandemic, with claims that the coronavirus may have been circulating outside the country before. of the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
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