OTTAWA — The Liberal government fell woefully short in its timid response to the incarceration earlier this week of a Chinese citizen journalist who chronicled the country’s pandemic’s response, diplomatic and human rights experts say.
The criticism comes after the official twitter account for Global Affairs Canada stated briefly on Tuesday that it was “very concerned” about the incarceration of Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan earlier this week. GAC has not yet issued an official statement on the matter, while the U.S., U.K. and European Union all offered full-throated and official condemnation of the conviction.
A Chinese court on Dec. 28 sentenced Zhang to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vague charge often used against critics of the government in China. Zhang was among many so-called “citizen journalists” who chronicled the initial outbreak of the virus in Wuhan early this year, and who helped spotlight the Communist Party of China’s draconian lockdowns and alleged attempts to conceal the seriousness of the virus.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the “sham prosecution and conviction” of Zhang Tuesday afternoon, saying the trial had “shown once again [the Communist Party of China] will do whatever it takes to silence those who question the Party’s official line, even regarding crucial public health information.”
The EU said Zhang’s right to a fair trial and due process “have not been respected,” and called for her immediate release. The U.K. foreign affairs office sent out a brief statement claiming that Zhang and 12 Hong Kong activists had been “tried in secret” on Monday, “raising further serious questions about access to legal counsel in Mainland China.”
Canada by comparison offered a note on twitter Tuesday afternoon, repeating calls for Zhang’s release but falling short of a statement about the perceived fairness of the trial.
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