For immediate release
December 10, 2025
ChinaAid Association
Contact: [email protected]
(Midland, Texas – December 10, 2025) ChinaAid Association is honored to announce Christian journalist Zhang Zhan as the winner of the 2025 Lin Zhao Freedom Award, selected from a group of exceptional nominees demonstrating extraordinary courage under repression. This is the second time Zhang Zhan has received the award; she was previously honored in 2021 for her reporting on the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak.
Zhang Zhan: A Courageous Witness
A former lawyer, Zhang Zhan traveled to Wuhan in February 2020 to document the early pandemic and expose local government coverups. She raised questions about officials’ accountability, leading to her detention in May 2020 and a four-year sentence in December 2020 for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” During imprisonment in Shanghai Women’s Prison, she conducted a prolonged hunger strike, endangering her health.
At the 2021 award ceremony, Ms. Cao Yaxue of “China Change” received the award on her behalf, noting Zhang Zhan was held in the same prison that once detained Lin Zhao. “For most of us, ‘Give me liberty or give me death’ may sound like a slogan. For Zhang Zhan, it is something she lives out,” Cao said.
ChinaAid condemned her mistreatment, stating:
“The arbitrary arrest, torture, and Lin Zhao–style trial imposed on Zhang Zhan, followed by a four-year sentence, is a continuation of the regime’s effort to cover up its wrongdoing in Wuhan. She is completely innocent and, like Dr. Li Wenliang, a hero not only of China but of the world.”
Renewed Persecution in 2025
On September 19, 2025, Zhang Zhan received another four-year sentence. Her lawyer defended her alone during a brief hearing; she appeared frail and silent.
In November 2025, authorities at Shanghai City’s Pudong New Area Detention Center denied her family and lawyer access, claiming she had been “transferred for the execution of sentence” without providing details. Online systems displayed “No such person found,” and officials refused to disclose her location. Attempts to file complaints were rejected. Her current whereabouts remain unknown, raising urgent concerns about enforced disappearance, safety, and denial of basic rights.
Statement from Bob Fu
“Zhang Zhan exemplifies unyielding faith and resilience,” said Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. “Her courage echoes Lin Zhao’s life. As Zhang Zhan endures a second imprisonment under secretive conditions, we pray for her protection and call on the world to advocate for her immediate release.”
About the Lin Zhao Freedom Award
The award honors Lin Zhao, a Christian poet and dissident executed in 1968 for resisting Mao Zedong, then Chinese Communist Party leader and dictator. It recognizes those who uphold truth at great personal cost. Past recipients include scholars, journalists, pastors, and activists who have faced censorship, disappearance, and imprisonment.
In the 2025 Lin Zhao Freedom Award nomination process, other nominees include Guo Feixiong (also known as Yang Maodong), Ding Jiaxi, Xu Zhiyong, and Yu Wensheng.
ChinaAid urges the international community to amplify Zhang Zhan’s story, demand transparency regarding her detention, and advocate for her immediate and unconditional release.