U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Dec. 29 issued a statement on the silencing and prosecution of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan by Chinese authorities.
In the statement, Pompeo said the United States strongly condemns China’s December 28 sham prosecution and conviction of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan and calls on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Zhang Zhan.
Pompeo said the Chinese Communist Party’s move once again demonstrates that it is doing everything it can to silence those who question the official Communist Party line, even when important public health information is at stake.
Lies are a characteristic of authoritarian regimes, not a flaw, the statement said. From the beginning, the CCP restricted and manipulated information about the Wuhan Xinguan outbreak, ruthlessly silencing others who were brave enough to speak the truth, such as Dr. Li Wenliang, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin. As a result of the CCP’s gross malfeasance and the strict media controls imposed by the CCP that turned a controlled outbreak into a deadly global pandemic, the rest of the world relied heavily on uncensored reports from citizen journalists like Zhang Zhan to learn about the real situation in Wuhan.
The statement said the Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to allow foreign observers to sit in on Zhang Zhan’s trial, which was rushed, shows how fearful the Communist Party is of Chinese citizens who speak the truth.
Pompeo said the Chinese government’s fear of transparency and still continued repression of basic freedoms is a sign of weakness, not strength, and is a threat to us all.
Pompeo emphasized that the United States will continue to support the rights of Chinese citizens to freely and peacefully express their opinions.
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