China is firmly opposed to any interference in its internal affairs and judicial sovereignty, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday, commenting on international criticism regarding the fate of Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2021) China is firmly opposed to any interference in its internal affairs and judicial sovereignty, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday, commenting on international criticism regarding the fate of Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan.
On Monday, the US State Department expressed deep concern about the deteriorating health of Zhang, arrested for covering the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan at the very beginning of the pandemic. The United States urged the Chinese authorities to release the woman. Amnesty International also called on the Chinese government to free the journalist. Earlier in November, Zhang's brother tweeted that she could not walk unassisted after one year of an intermittent hunger strike in protest of her arrest.
"China is firmly opposed to interference in the country's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty under whatever pretext," Wang said at a briefing.
He pointed out that Chinese judicial authorities hear cases in accordance with the law and do not permit defamation or misrepresentation.
"China is a state based on the rule of law, where laws must be respected, their violations must be investigated. Any person who breaks the law must be held accountable," the diplomat added.
In February 2020, Zhang covered the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan, exposing, in particular, the allegedly brutal methods employed by the Chinese authorities to contain the spread of the virus, as well as the state of affairs in local hospitals.
In May 2020, Zhang was placed in a detention center in Shanghai's Pudong district. In December 2020, a Chinese court found Zhang guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in her reporting of the country's COVID-19 outbreak. The journalist was sentenced to four years in prison.
A petition to Chinese President Xi Jinping, posted on the Amnesty International website and demanding the immediate release of Zhang, has already collected 16,679 signatures of the required 20,000.
