Chinese scholar Zhang Xuezhong returns home after questioning over call for political reform
- Friends say Zhang, who was removed by police on Sunday night, was released late on Monday
- Open letter criticising government handling of coronavirus outbreak has been taken down from Chinese social media
Zhang Xuezhong, the constitutional scholar who was taken away on Sunday after posting an open letter calling for political reform in China, has been allowed to return home after questioning by the authorities, friends close to the scholar said.
The 43-year-old scholar returned to his Shanghai home late on Monday night, said Wen Kejian, an independent political analyst and a close friend of Zhang.
“His physical condition seems all right,” Wen said.
Another of Zhang’s friends, who requested anonymity, also confirmed the scholar’s return. “He was taken away for about 24 hours,” the friend said.
Zhang did not respond to text messages on Tuesday morning and Wen said the scholar was resting at home. However, he posted a message on WeChat, China’s leading social media platform, late on Monday thanking friends for their support.
“I saw so many friends expressing concern for my current situation. Thank you very much. I am now at home and all is well. Good night everyone. I need to get some sleep first, apologies for not being able to reply to your messages,” Zhang wrote.
Covid-19: Chinese scholar held by police after calling for political reform
In his strongly worded letter, Zhang – a regular contributor to overseas publications and a well-known critic of China’s political and legal system – said “the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 epidemic is a good illustration” of China’s backward governance as a result of the absence of a modern constitution.
Since first being reported in Wuhan, central China, in late December, Covid-19 has infected more than 4.1 million people globally, killing more than 282,000.
Referring to the ophthalmologist who flagged the outbreak in Wuhan in late December, Zhang wrote in his letter: “Twenty-two days before the [lockdown to contain the outbreak] in the city, Wuhan was still investigating and punishing citizens who had disclosed the epidemic, including Dr Li Wenliang … showing how tight and arbitrary the government’s suppression of society is.”
Zhang also called on NPC deputies, who will meet for their annual conference from May 22, to turn the legislature into a “transitional authority” to create a broadly representative committee empowered to draft a constitution conforming to “modern political principles”.
Zhang is a former law professor at East China University of Political Science and Law. He was sacked from the school over his activism in 2013 and became a defence lawyer for a number of Chinese activists. He started an online course on constitutional law after he was stripped of his lawyer’s licence last year.
