{"id":235710,"date":"2021-11-12T15:44:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T23:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=235710"},"modified":"2021-11-17T18:07:33","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T02:07:33","slug":"on-chinas-journalists-day-renewed-calls-to-free-jailed-journalists-zhang-zhan-huang-xueqin-and-labor-activist-wang-jianbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/11\/on-chinas-journalists-day-renewed-calls-to-free-jailed-journalists-zhang-zhan-huang-xueqin-and-labor-activist-wang-jianbing\/","title":{"rendered":"On China\u2019s \u201cJournalists\u2019 Day,\u201d Renewed Calls to Free Jailed Journalists Zhang Zhan, Huang Xueqin and Labor Activist Wang Jianbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 8, an unofficial holiday celebrating journalists in China, there were renewed calls to release a number of Chinese journalists who have been detained, arrested or imprisoned simply for doing their jobs. China is currently ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the 2021 RSF World Press Freedom Index<\/a>, with over 120 journalists detained or imprisoned.<\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department on Monday urged the Chinese government to release Zhang Zhan<\/span><\/a> and expressed \u201cserious concerns about the arbitrary nature of her detention and her mistreatment during it.\u201d An<\/span> imprisoned citizen journalist whose reports from Wuhan were critical to understanding the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zhang Zhan is close to death after a lengthy hunger strike, according to her family. She arrived in Wuhan in February 2020 to <\/span>document<\/span><\/a> life in the megacity shortly after the unprecedented initial lockdown, but three months later, she was <\/span>detained and later arrested<\/span><\/a> for \u201c<\/span>picking quarrels and provoking trouble<\/span><\/a>,\u201d a catch-all offense often used by the Chinese authorities against activists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since her formal arrest over a year and a half ago, Zhang has carried out periodic hunger strikes to protest the lack of due process in her trial. According to her lawyer, the authorities at one point had been <\/span>restraining and force-feeding her<\/span><\/a>, a treatment that Amnesty International says \u201c<\/span>amounts to torture<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During a <\/span>three-hour trial in December 2020<\/span><\/a>, Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison. She appeared in court in a wheelchair, looking extremely frail. Her family and friends have been speaking up on her behalf during her imprisonment. Zhang Zhan\u2019s older brother Zhang Ju has urged the authorities to release his sister on medical parole due to her extreme emaciation and deteriorating health:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u5f20\u5c55\u8eab\u9ad8177cm\uff0c\u76ee\u524d\u4f53\u91cd\u4e0d\u8db340kg\u3002\u5979\u90a3\u4e48\u5014\u5f3a\u3002\u6211\u89c9\u5f97\u5979\u53ef\u80fd\u6d3b\u4e0d\u4e86\u592a\u4e45\u4e86\u3002\u5728\u5373\u5c06\u5230\u6765\u7684\u51b7\u51ac\uff0c\u5982\u679c\u5979\u6ca1\u6709\u575a\u6301\u8fc7\u53bb\uff0c\u6211\u5e0c\u671b\u4e16\u754c\u80fd\u8bb0\u4f4f\u5979\u539f\u6765\u7684\u6837\u5b50\u3002 pic.twitter.com\/CeKbDKkpwd<\/a><\/p>\n

— \u5f20\u4e3e\uff08Ju Zhang\uff09 (@Jeffreychang81) October 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n