A Chinese citizen journalist who disappeared three years ago while reporting on the COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan, China — and was later revealed to have been detained by authorities — has reportedly been released.
Fang Bin (方斌) was let out of detention on Sunday, according to multiple media reports that cited people close to the family.
The reports said he had gone to Beijing, where some of his family live, before being sent back to Wuhan on Monday morning, where he remains under strict supervision.
Photo: Reuters
A Chinese human rights monitoring group said neither Beijing nor Wuhan authorities wanted responsibility for Fang, and were pushing him between the two cities.
Fang was among a number of Chinese who were targeted by authorities for publicly reporting the events of the world’s first major COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown.
He and fellow citizen journalist Chen Qiushi (陳秋實) disappeared from Wuhan in February 2020. Chen resurfaced in September 2021 in a video broadcast live on his friend’s YouTube feed, saying he had suffered from depression. He did not provide details about his disappearance.
Fang’s disappearance was shrouded in confusion and secrecy, with conflicting reports about whether he was in detention, living with his parents under supervision, or under surveillance at a designated location — a form of secretive Chinese detention that allows authorities to hold a person for six months without charge.
Several reports have said his family feared speaking out about the case.
On Sunday, The Associated Press quoted a source who claimed Fang had been sentenced to three years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vague charge traditionally used against political dissidents.
Radio Free Asia added that he served his sentence at a correctional center in Wuhan’s Jiangxia District.
In December 2020, former lawyer-turned-journalist Zhang Zhan (張展) was sentenced to four years in prison on the same charge, for her reporting in Wuhan.
Zhang began a hunger strike shortly after her arrest and supporters have repeatedly expressed serious concern for her health.
In 2021, Zhang’s former lawyer told the Guardian that her sentence was “a warning” from the Chinese government, and suggested she was being severely treated in retaliation for her actions.
China’s government has consistently been accused of a lack of transparency since COVID-19 was first detected. Wuhan, home to 11 million people, was the first of many cities around the world to go into a strict citywide lockdown.
Traditional and citizen journalists sought to publicize the disastrous outbreak, which overwhelmed hospitals and other services, but authorities sought to strictly control the flow of information, hindering reporting and arresting journalists and whistle-blowers.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction
RSS