Opinion article by The Washington Post

Nearly six years after the first appearance of the Coronovation in Wuhan, which ended up in a pandemic, the Chinese authorities still act as if they have something to hide – and fear. Last Friday, a journalist who helped reveal the impact of the first days of Koronovi on Wuhan was again sentenced to four years in prison, apparently because he continued to disturb the authorities, telling the truth and refusing to be silenced.

Zhang Zhan was accused of “inventing and causing problems”. This is the general phrase used in China for anyone who makes the regime feel uncomfortable. Zhang was charged with the same category in December 2020 of her live report on Wuhan. He revealed overcrowded and under -staffed hospitals, empty roads and the Lockdown of the whole city.

She spent four years in prison until her release in May 2024. However, she was again arrested three months later and had no contact with the outside world ever since. Groups for Freedom of the Press and the UN Human Rights Office said Zhang was again arrested and was probably charged with her posts on social media about human rights violations.

In a country where the media is strictly controlled, citizens of journalists such as Zhan usually provide the only real source of non-censored information. From those early days of the pandemic, she posted 122 videos on YouTube of her life amidst the first and most rigorous lockdown in the world. Journalists without borders (RSF) honored Zhang with the Freedom Award of Type 2021 for her courage.

Although praised abroad as a person who tells the truth, in China, the country’s leadership considered it a threat. In China, journalists who deviate from the official line and dare to tell the truth end up imprisoned and silenced. China now has 124 journalists in prisons and is ranked 178th, in 180 countries in the freedom index of the press -free journalists. On the list is only North Korea and Eritrea.

Zhang’s imprisonment and the total treatment of journalists from China raise a question still hovering about Wuhan: What exactly is China trying to hide? It is obvious what is most afraid of: the truth.