Shanghai citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was released from prison just a month ago, is facing renewed threats from police surveillance, warning her not to cross the line or face re-arrest. It is reported that since her release on May 13, Zhang Zhan has been under tight surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, preventing her from truly enjoying freedom.
Outside Zhang Zhan’s residence in Shanghai, there is a van parked with plainclothes officers inside, specifically monitoring her movements.
Mrs. Shen told the reporters that, “Although Zhang Zhan can currently come and go for activities, there are plainclothes officers guarding her doorstep. If friends come to visit Zhang Zhan, the police will warn her after the friends leave.”
On June 6, Zhang Zhan was summoned and threatened by the Pudong Sub-bureau of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
On June 9, Zhang Zhan posted on her WeChat moments, saying: “The police said, ‘touch the red line again, and you’ll go in.’ Whose ‘red line’ are you protecting? Is it the red line of the people’s lives or the ‘opinions of the superiors’? I don’t want to go in, I am not the one who should go in.”
Independent writer and poet Lu Qianrong visited Zhang Zhan in Shanghai shortly after her release and witnessed that she did not truly gain freedom.
Lu Qianrong said, “Around 8 a.m. on May 31, I arrived at the brother’s house of Zhang Zhan on Sun Yaolu, Pudong, Shanghai, where she was living with her father after being released.”
As soon as Lu Qianrong sat down at Zhang Zhan’s home, the police called Zhang Zhan’s father to inform him of Lu Qianrong’s visit.
Lu Qianrong stated, “After we met, Zhang Zhan told me that whenever she leaves the residential compound, community officials would ask her where she was going. She replied, ‘Do I have to tell you where I am going?'”
After Lu Qianrong left Zhang Zhan’s residence in the afternoon, Zhang Zhan messaged Lu Qianrong on WeChat around 4 p.m., saying, “The police came to visit.”
Similarly, Shanghai lawyer Peng Yonghe issued a statement on June 6, stating, “I was illegally searched by the Shanghai police on May 31 because I talked about Zhang Zhan’s situation after her release in an interview with Taiwanese media.”
Peng Yonghe claimed that the police from the Xuanqiao Police Station did not provide him with a summons or search warrant, nor did they issue a list of confiscated items. He demanded the Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Chen Jiening, to ensure justice and compel the Shanghai police to provide him with the necessary documents.
Lu Qianrong expressed that “Zhang Zhan has endured too much suffering for this country. It is not Zhang Zhan who should be imprisoned, but those corrupt officials who betray the country, engage in corruption, and persecute and slaughter the Chinese people.” Lu Qianrong called on the international community to pay attention to the freedom and human rights of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan.
He said, “I have been openly monitored and persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for 29 years, under the evil terror of the Central Communist regime, estranged from my wife and children in the last six years, wandering in the country I deeply love.”