US urges Beijing to release jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan
- Zhang has severely lost weight and has reportedly been held in physical restraints and force-fed through a feeding tube
- ‘The United States is deeply concerned about the deteriorating health of PRC citizen journalist Ms Zhang Zhan,’ says US State Department spokesman
Known for her on-the-ground reporting in the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, Zhang is currently serving a four-year sentence for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge often used by Chinese authorities to punish critics.
After beginning an intermittent hunger strike soon after her detention in May, Zhang has severely lost weight and has reportedly been held in physical restraints and force-fed through a feeding tube.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the deteriorating health of PRC citizen journalist Ms Zhang Zhan,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Citing a number of recent media reports that Zhang was “near death”, Price told reporters that the US administration held “serious concerns about the arbitrary nature of her detention and her mistreatment during it”.