The award came at a time when the world is urging China to release Zhang, as her health is deteriorating rapidly and her life is in danger….reports Asian Lite News
A US-based rights group has awarded journalist Zhang Zhan, who was jailed by Chinese authorities for reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US-based Christian rights group ChinaAid has awarded her with the Lin Zhao Freedom Award, for her work in promoting the Chinese civil society and advancing the rule of law.
Lawyer-turned-journalist Zhang travelled to Wuhan and “courageously investigated the area … demonstrat[ing] a dedication to the victims of the COVID-19 that touched the world, and a spirit of fearless sacrifice,” ChinaAid said.
The award came at a time when the world is urging China to release Zhang, as her health is deteriorating rapidly and her life is in danger.
As reported by Radio Free Asia, the Lin Zhao award honours a Mao-era dissident, who was executed by the Chinese government.
In November, several United Nations experts had also urged China to release journalist Zhang.
Meanwhile, ChinaAid has also awarded Lin Zhao award to disappeared rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
Earlier, Paris-based non-governmental organisation, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had also nominated jailed Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan for the 2021 RSF Press Freedom Awards.
Lawyer-turned-journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced in December 2020 to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” while covering the initial Covid-19 outbreak in the city of Wuhan in February 2020, RSF said.
Despite constant threats from the authorities, she live-streamed video reports on YouTube, WeChat and Twitter, showing the city’s streets and hospitals, and the harassment to which the families of the sick were subjected.
Meanwhile, China’s violations against its own international commitments to freedom of opinion and expression has significantly increased under the current regime.
The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, a report has revealed the unprecedented campaign of repression led by the Chinese regime in recent years against journalism and the right to information worldwide.
Specifically, the report examines the regime’s tools of repression against journalists and the deterioration of press freedom in Hong Kong, which was once a model of press freedom but now has an increasing number of journalists arrested in the name of national security.
The report is from the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and has also revealed how journalists are being forced to become the Chinese Communist Party (CCP’s) mouthpiece.
As per the report, in order to receive and renew their press cards, journalists will soon have to undergo a 90-hour annual training partly focusing on Xi Jinping’s “Thought”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has also unveiled a series of plans that are seen to further consolidate the CCP’s control over the media.
Beijing has been using media as an important tool for asserting power and enhancing its narrative in international discourse.
China has been bankrolling scholars, journalists, and experts abroad, censoring domestic media while keeping a tab on Chinese Diaspora abroad, The HK Post reported. (ANI)
