Fears for missing Wuhan journalist as she vanishes upon prison release after serving four years for filming COVID lab leak

US officials have sounded the alarm over the disappearance of a Chinese pandemic whistleblower journalist who was supposed to be released from jail.

Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for live streaming the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan.

She recently completed a four year sentence at Shanghai's Women Prison, on charges of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'.

But the 40-year-old has yet to be seen following her projected release date of May 13.

'The United States is deeply concerned over reports that PRC citizen journalist Ms. Zhang Zhan has disappeared following her expected release,' US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said.

US officials have sounded the alarm over the disappearance of Chinese pandemic whistleblower journalist Zhang Zhan who was recently released from jail

'The United States has repeatedly expressed our serious concerns about the arbitrary nature of her detention and authorities' mistreatment of her. 

'We reiterate our call for the PRC to respect the human rights of Ms. Zhang, including by immediately ending the restrictive measures that she and all journalists in the PRC face, which include surveillance, censorship, harassment, and intimidation.'

Ren Quanniu, a former lawyer who previously represented Zhang, said he could not reach her father and expressed concern that Zhang would be released only to be put under another form of control by police.

During her prison stay, Zhang staged a hunger strike and was hospitalized at one point in 2021.

Zhang's family has faced police pressure during her stay in prison, and her parents have declined interview requests from media. Her family at times could only speak to their daughter by phone at the prison.

Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for filming the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan

US officials said they are 'deeply concerned' about her whereabouts since she has not been contactable since her release date

Shen Yanqiu, who had planned to go with Zhang´s family to receive her at the prison, declined to speak to The Associated Press, saying she had been 'invited to drink tea,' a euphemism for a police interrogation.

Calls by the Associated Press to Zhang's brother went unanswered. Calls to the Shanghai Prison Administration office also went unanswered.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin declined to comment on the case when asked Monday, saying 'I´m not aware of the situation.'

Zang's arrest was the subject of protests with activists demanding her release. 

However she was one of several citizen journalists to wind up in prison for reporting on the pandemic in China.

They include Fang Bin, who published videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the outbreak.

Fang was sentenced to three years in prison and released last April.

Chen Qiushi, another citizen journalist, disappeared in February 2020 while filming in Wuhan. 

Chen resurfaced on a friend´s live video feed on YouTube in September 2021, saying he had suffered from depression but did not provide details about his disappearance.

The coronavirus remains a sensitive topic in China. In the first week of May, a Chinese scientist who was the first to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus staged a protest after authorities barred him from his lab, after years of demotions and setbacks.