China denounces UN “irresponsible” comments on jailed journalist | Coronavirus pandemic News

The UN has called on Beijing to release Zhang Zhan, who was jailed for responding to China’s COVID-19 response.

China has been heavily criticized by the United Nations for its comments demanding the release of a citizen journalist jailed for receiving the country’s COVID-19 response.

The Chinese mission in Geneva expressed outrage that the UN OHCHR’s comments on Saturday on Zhang Zhan’s case were “irresponsible” and “wrong”.

OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado sounded the alarm on Friday that the health of the 38-year-old was rapidly deteriorating and his life was in grave danger as a result of a hunger strike arrested.

“We call on the Chinese authorities to consider the immediate and unconditional release of Zhangren, at least for humanitarian reasons, and to make available urgent medical care to save lives, respecting his will and his dignity,” Hurtado said in a statement.

Zhang, a former lawyer, traveled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report the chaos that was at the epicenter of the pandemic, with authorities questioning the appearance on his cell phone videos.

He was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison in December for “gathering clashes and causing trouble”; a common accusation to remove dissent.

He has gone on several hunger strikes to protest his conviction, punishment and imprisonment, and his family recently warned him that he was underweight and “may not have lived much longer.”

Hurtado said the UN rights office had repeatedly exposed Zhang’s case to Chinese authorities since he was arrested last year.

“He wanted to clarify about the criminal proceedings against him as a result of what appeared to be legitimate activities in his journalism,” he said.

‘Audition’

China has enjoyed its success in keeping COVID-19 at home in the reduction of some occasional outbreaks.

But there has been little patience with those who threaten the official version, raising questions about the government’s handling of the Wuhan appearance.

Zhang is among a group of four citizen journalists – along with Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua – after reporting his arrest from Wuhan.

In a statement on Saturday, Chinese mission spokesman Liu Yuyin stressed that “China is a country under the rule of law, and that everyone is equal before the law.”

In Zhang’s case, he condemned the UN rights office for “turning a blind eye to information provided by China through ordinary channels” and instead “chose to intervene in China’s judicial sovereignty based on hearings.”

He also highlighted China’s response to COVID-19, stressing that the country has “achieved what everyone has achieved to deal with the pandemic”.

“It’s not something that anyone can distort or eliminate, much less that OHCHR can shed its weight.”

Zhang Reporters Without Borders (RSF) was awarded the 2021 Press Freedom Award on Thursday for his courage.

“Reporting from the heart of the initial epicenter of the pandemic was one of the main sources of independent information about the health situation in Wuhan at the time,” RSF said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of human rights lawyers have put it in an open letter asking for his names to be released immediately due to his poor health. At least 40 human rights organizations have called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Zhang “before it’s too late.”