{
  "id": 172,
  "slug": "2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan",
  "title": "China: citizen journalist Zhang Zhan imprisoned for Wuhan reporting",
  "occurred_on": "2020-05-14",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "CN",
  "country": "CN",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
  "leader_slug": "xi-jinping",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": null,
  "outcome_note": "Zhang completed her original four-year sentence and was released in 2024, but the sources reviewed report a second case against her the following year.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "China detained citizen journalist Zhang Zhan for posting independent video reports from Wuhan during the early COVID-19 outbreak, later convicting her of \"picking quarrels and provoking trouble\" and, after her release, detaining her again years later.{c:546}{c:657}{c:658}",
  "what_happened": "Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, traveled to Wuhan in February 2020 and began posting independent video reports on Twitter and YouTube about the early coronavirus outbreak there, including interviews with affected residents and business owners. She went missing on May 14, 2020, and was confirmed arrested and detained the next day. Chinese authorities held her on the charge of \"picking quarrels and provoking trouble,\" a broadly worded offense that press freedom groups say Chinese courts use against government critics generally. A court sentenced her to four years in prison in December 2020. Zhang staged repeated hunger strikes in detention and was released in May 2024 after completing her sentence, only for CPJ to report that Chinese authorities brought a second case against her the following year, keeping her under continued restriction.{c:546}{c:657}{c:658}\n\nOngoing; CPJ reported a second case against her in 2025 after her initial release.{c:546}{c:657}{c:658}",
  "stated_justification": "\"picking quarrels and provoking trouble\"{c:546}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Zhang's imprisonment and later re-detention removed one of the few independent voices who had reported directly from Wuhan during the outbreak's earliest weeks, before China's official narrative was established.{c:546}{c:657}{c:658}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not give the specific evidence used to support the 'picking quarrels' charge.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:31Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 10,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:26Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:22:50Z",
  "stage": "eliminate",
  "ladder_note": "China imprisoned a citizen journalist for four years over her Wuhan reporting, then opened a second case against her after release; United States detention incidents in the record ended in release the same day.",
  "country_name": "China",
  "tactics": [
    "detention_and_violence"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "xi-jinping",
    "name": "Xi Jinping",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/xi-jinping"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:19:31Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not give the specific evidence used to support the 'picking quarrels' charge."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "xi-jinping",
      "name": "Xi Jinping",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/xi-jinping"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "zhang-zhan",
      "name": "Zhang Zhan",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/zhang-zhan"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 546,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 172,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble",
      "statement": "The formal charge used against her.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 386,
      "evidence_quote": "picking quarrels and provoking trouble",
      "evidence_date": "2020-05-18",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:28Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 386,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "title": "Journalist Zhang Zhan arrested for covering COVID-19 in Wuhan",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-05-18",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/546"
    },
    {
      "id": 657,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 172,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "China said to fear independent reporting on its COVID-19 response",
      "statement": "CPJ's assessment of the motive behind her arrest.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 386,
      "evidence_quote": "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,",
      "evidence_date": "2020-05-18",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:57Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 386,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "title": "Journalist Zhang Zhan arrested for covering COVID-19 in Wuhan",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-05-18",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/657"
    },
    {
      "id": 658,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 172,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "She faced up to five years if convicted",
      "statement": "The potential sentence reported at the time of arrest.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 386,
      "evidence_quote": "If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison",
      "evidence_date": "2020-05-18",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:58Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 386,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
        "title": "Journalist Zhang Zhan arrested for covering COVID-19 in Wuhan",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-05-18",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/658"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 386,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/05/journalist-zhang-zhan-arrested-for-covering-covid/",
      "title": "Journalist Zhang Zhan arrested for covering COVID-19 in Wuhan",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2020-05-18",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 467,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/china-jails-citizen-journalist-four-years-over-wuhan-virus-reporting-2020-12-28/",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2020-12-28",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "China: citizen journalist Zhang Zhan imprisoned for Wuhan reporting. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}