Imprisoned Chinese citizen journalist not well, lawyer says

A lawyer says Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan who was sentenced to four years in jail after reporting on the original outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is in ill health

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A Chinese citizen journalist serving a four-year sentence after reporting on the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of Wuhan is in ill health after staging a long-running hunger strike, according to a lawyer who spoke with her family. Zhang Zhan was hospitalized on July 31 and now weighs less than 40 kilograms (90 pounds), according to a message sent by Zhang Zhan's mother to a group on Chinese social media. Authorities notified the family that she was in poor health and told them to come to the prison, said Peng Yonghe, a lawyer who spoke with Zhang's mother about the visit. Her parents and brother went to Shanghai on August 2 but were only permitted to speak with her over the phone. “We just hope that she can get out of jail, because her hunger strike is really worrying,” said Peng.