# Claim 657

CPJ's assessment of the motive behind her arrest.

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 1 source.

- Statement: CPJ's assessment of the motive behind her arrest.
- Field: action
- Value: China said to fear independent reporting on its COVID-19 response
- About: [incident 2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan)
- Source: Journalist Zhang Zhan arrested for covering COVID-19 in Wuhan. https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/
- Publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists
- Method: outlet report
- Checked: 2026-09-22
- Confidence: medium
- Status: current
- Source date: 2020-05-18

## Quotation from the source

> China professes pride in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but appears deathly afraid of allowing independent journalists like Zhang Zhan to freely tell the story of what is happening,

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/657. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.