The Associated Press was unable to freely verify his distribution or the authorities’ confirmation of the information.
Wuhan’s social protection commission had two offices, but neither of them offered a phone number or an answer to any inquiries. On Sunday afternoon, calling to a court that apparently sentenced Fang went unanswered. A person from a different prosecutor who allegedly handled Fang’s appeal claimed she was not authorized to respond to inquiries.
Earlier in 2020, the Hubei province in western China’s Wuhan, which has 11 million residents, was devastated by the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Its streets were deserted for weeks during a 76-day quarantine, with the exception of vehicles and security officers.
With smartphones and social media accounts at the time, a small group of resident editors attempted to share their stories as well as those of others, challenging the Communist Party’s firmly regulated monopoly on content.
Even though their motion was limited, the scope of it was unheard of in China during a serious disease outbreak or disaster.
However, they quickly got into trouble because of the material they presented. In February, Chen Qiushi, a voter journalist, and Fang vanished.
In September 2021, Chen made a comeback on his sister’s YouTube live video feed, claiming to have experienced depression. He did not, however, give any information regarding his removal.
Zhang Zhan, another citizen journalist who had also covered the early stages of the pandemic, was given a four-year prison term in December 2020 on suspicion of starting fights and causing problems. Her attorney claimed she was ill after staging a protracted hunger strike in eight months later.