Reuters
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A reporter without borders said that Chinese journalists were sentenced to a further four years in prison on Friday after documenting the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak from the epicenter of the pandemic.
Chang Chang, 42, was sentenced to China on charges of “choosing an argument and causing trouble.” This was sentenced on the same charges that led to imprisonment in December 2020 after posting the first account from the central city of the International Article Freedom Group, known for its early coronavirus central city.
China’s Foreign Ministry could not immediately contact us on Sunday for comments. Reuters could not determine whether citizen journalists have legal representatives.
“She should be globally celebrated as an “information hero” who is not trapped in brutal prison conditions,” RSF Asia-Pacific advocacy manager Alexandra Bierakovska said in a statement.
“Her trials and persecution must end. It is more urgent than ever for the international diplomatic community to put pressure on Beijing for her immediate release.”
Zhang was initially arrested after posting months of accounts containing videos from crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted more tragic early pictures of illness than the official story. Her attorney at the time, Len Quanniu, said she believes Zhang is “persecuted to exercise her freedom of speech.”
According to court documents seen by Reuters, she continued her hunger strike the month after her arrest, urging police to tie her hands down and push her tubes to feed them, her lawyer said.
Zhang was released in May 2024 and remanded three months later, eventually officially arrested and placed at Pudong Detention Centre in Shanghai, RSF said.
The ruling on Friday followed Chang’s report on China’s human rights violations, the RSF said. Her former lawyer, Len, posted to X that the new charges were based on Zhang’s comments on an overseas website and should not be considered guilty.
Chinese authorities have never publicly designated the activities that Chang was indicted.
“This is the second time that Chang Chan has faced trial for an unfounded accusation that is nothing more than a blatant act of persecution of his journalism work,” said Beh Lih Yi, director of the Asia-Pacific region to protect journalists for the New York-based committee’s Asia-Pacific Commission. “Chinese authorities must end Chang’s arbitrary detention, withdraw all charges and release her immediately.”
China is the world’s largest jailer for journalists, with at least 124 media workers behind the bar, the RSF said. The country ranked 178th out of 180 countries and territory in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
A week before Chang’s latest ruling, China’s top lawmakers passed a bill that accelerated public health emergency response by allowing people to report emergencies, bypassing the government’s usual hierarchy.
