Chinese journalist who documented Wuhan COVID outbreak falls ill in prison hunger strike

A 37-year-old Chinese citizen journalist, who was imprisoned for exposing the failures of the government’s initial response to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, is seriously ill from a hunger strike. According to the New York Times, Zhang Zhan had travelled to Wuhan from her home in Shanghai and spent the early days of the outbreak documenting the city’s strict lockdown and the severe impact it had on residents’ livelihood and freedoms. Her reports had reportedly challenged the government’s efforts to portray its response as competent and caring. 

Zhang Zhan was convicted last year of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and sentenced to four years in prison after a three-hour, closed-door trial. She then began a hunger strike after her arrest in May. Previously, her lawyers had said that the authorities had used a feeding tube to feed her and restrained her hands. 

The 37-year-old then appeared at her trial in December in a wheelchair. One of her lawyers had said then that she had already lost significant weight and that her appearance had vastly changed from just a few weeks earlier. As per the media outlet, Zhang, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed about 165 pounds before her arrest, now weighs less than 90 pounds. 

Zhang’s mother ​Shao Wenxia has not been able to see her in person since her arrest because the Chinese officials have refused to let her visit. Shao informed that her daughter was hospitalized on July 31 and that her family was allowed to speak with her by phone on August 2. She then returned to prison on August 11. Zhang was suffering from a gastric ulcer and was so weak that she needed help getting up, her mother said. 

An official at the Shanghai Prison Administration Bureau, on the other hand, informed that Zhang had returned to Shanghai Women’s Prison after receiving medical treatment. Thus far, the 37-year-old has not responded to pleas from her family to resume eating normally. Peng Yonghe, a Chinese lawyer and a friend of Zhang’s said that the first hope is that Zhang can stop her hunger strike. Yonghe added that secondly, he hopes that she can come out as soon as possible. 

Human rights activists concerned about Zhang's health

Meanwhile, human rights activists have raised fears that if Zhang’s health does not improve she could share the fate of other Chinese dissidents who have died in custody. It is worth mentioning that it seems unlikely that Zhang’s condition would lead to early release. While the Chinese system does allow for medical parole, conditions brought about by a hunger strike would not qualify. 

Zhang had declined to appeal her conviction, telling her lawyers that she refused to acknowledge the validity of the legal process used to imprison her. She was the first citizen journalist who tried to challenge the official narrative of China’s pandemic response. While in Wuhan, Zhang posted videos that showed how the outbreak had overwhelmed a hospital and a crematory.

(Image: Twitter)