China Jails Citizen Journalist for 'Provoking Trouble' With Wuhan Reporting

Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old citizen journalist in China, has been sentenced to four years in jail after criticizing the Chinese government's response to COVID-19 in Wuhan. Zhang was a lawyer in Shanghai before she traveled to Wuhan in Februrary to cover how the city was handling the outbreak of the pandemic.

NBC News reports:

"Some of her posts were critical of the Chinese government's response. Zhang was detained in May and accused of spreading false information, giving interviews to foreign media, disrupting social order and attacking the government. On Monday, she was convicted on charges of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble,' Zhang’s lawyer, Zhang Keke, who is not related to the citizen journalist, told NBC News on Monday. Zhang did not speak or show any reaction to the court decision, her lawyer said, adding that she did not answer when asked if she wanted to appeal her sentence."

That this news is not surprising does not make it less horrifying. Earlier this month, the New York Times covered the extraordinary efforts that the Chinese Communist Party deployed to censor social media and journalism as the outbreak spread out of control.

We should read stories like this and be wary of the costs of doing major commerce in China, and we should also be thankful that we don't live in a country where criticizing the actions of government can lead to several years in jail and potential torture.