US Lawmakers and International Rights Groups Criticize Beijing for Jailing Citizen Journalist

Police attempt to stop journalists from recording footage outside the Pudong New District People's Court in Shanghai, on Dec 28, 2020. Leo Ramirez/AFP via Getty Images

Beijing’s decision to imprison Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan over her reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn strong criticism from international rights groups and U.S. lawmakers.

Zhang, a 37-year-old former lawyer, began reporting on the ground in Wuhan, the epicenter of China’s pandemic, in early February. She suddenly disappeared in May. A month later, Chinese authorities announced that she had been arrested. On Dec. 28, Zhang was sentenced to four-year imprisonment after being convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” one of the common charges the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses to imprison dissidents.

Secret Trial

Ren Quanniu, one of Zhang’s defense lawyers, said that his client’s trial was not an open one, as it was not broadcasted online. In an interview with the Chinese-language Epoch Times, Ren said that the only people attending the court hearing were Zhang’s parents and two Chinese community-level officials tasked to monitor them.