Case File
The Zhang Zhan Case
Citizen reporting on Wuhan was reframed as public-order crime, turning independent memory into a warning to others.
Case chronologyFull case chronology and key recordsExpand
Zhang traveled to Wuhan to report on COVID-19 and was detained in Shanghai
She used video and social media to document lockdowns, hospitals, and citizen journalists and disappeared in May 2020 before authorities confirmed her detention.
She received four years for picking quarrels and provoking trouble
A Shanghai court convicted her over publication of COVID-related information, while external organizations challenged trial and evidentiary transparency.
Hunger strikes, force-feeding, and declining health marked her imprisonment
Zhang undertook prolonged hunger strikes, while family and rights groups reported severe weight loss, hospitalization, and restricted access and information.
She was detained and sentenced again after completing the first term
Zhang completed her first four-year sentence in May 2024, was detained again months later, and received another four-year sentence in September 2025. This later outcome is reported by rights organizations; a full official judgment is not public.
Contents
What happened
In early 2020, Zhang Zhan went to Wuhan and used video and social media to document lockdowns, hospitals and the conditions facing citizen journalists. She disappeared in May and was later confirmed to be in custody. On 28 December, a Shanghai Pudong court sentenced her to four years for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. She staged hunger strikes in prison, while family and rights groups reported severe weight loss, hospitalization and restricted visits. She completed the first term in May 2024, was detained again months later and received another four-year sentence in September 2025. The later sentence is reported mainly by rights groups; a full official judgment is not public. [1] [2]
How the law suppressed reporting
Zhang documented a public-health crisis, not a violent crime. The court used the broad offense of picking quarrels and provoking trouble to treat publication of COVID information as a threat to order. Her re-detention and second sentence told other reporters that finishing a term would not restore the right to speak.
Facts and limits
Rights organizations document both sentences, her hunger strikes and declining health, as well as restrictions on family information and visits. The authorities have not released the full evidence or judgment, so the complete chain behind each allegation cannot be reconstructed. The record does establish that she lost years of freedom for documenting public events and that the proceedings lacked transparency that the public could examine. [1] [2]
How the power works
The CCP does not have to prove that a reporter lied. It only has to define unauthorized publication as a disturbance of order. The offense is vague enough for police, prosecutors and courts to turn reporting itself into a crime. The case sends a practical warning to every citizen journalist: filming hospitals and describing deaths can bring years in prison.
Evidence boundary
The available reports establish detention, sentencing, hunger strikes and renewed prosecution. They do not replace a public judgment or independent trial record. Full verification requires indictments, judgments, visitation records and medical files. The case shows that under the CCP’s pandemic narrative, people who record reality face punishment more readily than officials who manufacture the narrative.
Sources
Amnesty International Report on Zhang Zhan's Second Sentenceinvestigative-reportingLive
Front Line Defenders Timeline of the Zhang Zhan Caseinvestigative-reportingLive
2023 Party and state institutional reform planLive
Constitution of the People's Republic of ChinaUnchecked