After more than three years of detention in China, Fang Bin, a citizen journalist who documented the early outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan, has finally been released. His disappearance occurred after he shared videos showing the on-the-ground situation in Wuhan, the epicenter of the original outbreak, as authorities sought to suppress information about the true extent of the unfolding global emergency.
Fang's videos posted to social media in early 2020 laid bare the realities of the virus' deadly spread, contradicting the official narrative presented on China's tightly controlled state media. Fang's health had suffered while in detention, where he had trouble eating and sleeping, and had lost weight.
Fang's relative, who declined to be named due to concerns about repercussions, confirmed that Fang had been released on Sunday and was in Wuhan. Fang was charged with "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," which is commonly used to silence activists and government critics. The charge is often used in China's justice system to detain political or social activists.
China's justice system is notoriously opaque, especially when it comes to those detained for political or social activism. Rights groups had repeatedly called for Fang's release and information about his case and of others who were also detained after sharing information about the Wuhan outbreak.
Fang was among a handful of citizen journalists who were caught up in China's crackdown on truth-telling in the early phase of the outbreak. Others include Chen Qiushi, a lawyer and citizen journalist who disappeared in early February and re-emerged in September 2021 when he briefly appeared in a friend's YouTube video, and Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer. Both had reported on China's initial Covid outbreak in Wuhan in early 2020.
While Fang Bin's release is a positive development for him and his family, he should never have been detained in the first place. Others who reported on the Covid-19 pandemic, like former lawyer Zhang Zhan, remain in prison despite the grave risk to her health, according to Elaine Pearson, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch.
The Chinese government has never confirmed how many people were detained or prosecuted in connection with sharing information on the pandemic. In a statement issued in July 2020, the Foreign Ministry denied that the Chinese government had cracked down on journalists who "exercised their right to freedom of speech on the Internet" during the pandemic.
China relaxed its stringent system of Covid-19 controls, which included lockdowns, digital tracking, and border restrictions, late last year, prompting a wave of infections that swept the country. According to figures from the World Health Organization, around 120,000 people have died from Covid-19 in China, though experts believe the true number is much higher.