Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of China regarding recent reports that Chinese citizens who attempted to report on the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 have (1) disappeared, or (2) been imprisoned.

We regularly raise our concerns about restrictions on media freedom - including the detention of journalists - with the Chinese authorities. In December, the UK's Human Rights Ambassador urged China to free all journalists detained for their reporting, and in particular called for the release of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was jailed after reporting about the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.