（中文通报见下方 See below for update in Chinese）
Ms Shao, Zhang Zhan's mother, finally received a phone call from the prison authorities on 2 August 2021. She was first spoken to by a doctor, who said that her daughter had been hospitalized since 31 July, mainly due to severe malnutrition as a result of her continued partial hunger strike. Zhang Zhan, who used to have a height of nearly 180cm, apparently weighed less than 40kg at the moment.
Ms Shao asked if Zhan had other health issues. The doctor said that they were still waiting for the results (of some medical tests), and there was severe swelling in her legs and feet.
Zhang Zhan was then allowed to speak over the phone. Despite her mother's efforts to persuade her to eat normally, she was still determined that to protest her innocence, she would not do so.
This was the first time that Zhang Zhan's parents had been given any update about her health in six months. They are still not allowed to visit her in prison. They have not seen her in person since she left for the epidemic-stricken Wuhan on 1 February 2020. We now know that Zhang Zhan has not eaten normally ever since her arrest in May 2020. And during those three months in between, she survived on instant noodles most of the time in locked down Wuhan...
Her family has been devastated by the news about her deteriorating health given over the phone. Will there be a miracle? Will she be granted medical parole?
Requests for medical parole are routinely denied for prisoners of conscience in China. Check out the cases of Wang Bingzhang, Huang Qi, Hu Shigen, Guo Feixiong, and the long list of human rights defenders who have died in custody:
Li Hong (2020)
Li Wangyang (2012)
Cao Shunli (2014)
Peng Ming (2016)
Yang Tianshui and Liu Xiaobo (2017)
Wang Meiyu and Ji Sizun (2019)
Guo Hongwei (2021)
...
Unless released on medical parole in good time, Zhang Zhan will not be able to walk out of prison alive at the end of her 4-year jail sentence, on 13 May 2024.
Please share this update widely. Thank you so much!
Zhang Zhan Concern Group
P.S. 2 September 2021 is Zhang Zhan's 38th birthday. If you have something you would like to say to her or her parents, please email it to us at freezhangzhannow@protonmail.com. We will compile all messages and forward them to her family.
Alternatively, if you would like to send her a card, her address is:
Shanghai Women’s Prison
No.1601 Zhangjing Road
Sijing Town, Songjiang District
Shanghai 201601
China
-----------------------------------------------------------
张展母亲邵阿姨通报：“8月2号与张展通话会见，得知她身体状况很不好，7月31号住院。医生先介绍张展的情况，现在她的体重不到40公斤，主要是半绝食造成营养严重不良，问身体有没有其它疾病，医生告知检查结果尚未出来，她的腿脚浮肿很严重。后同张展通电话，劝她定要正常吃饭，她还是坚称自己无罪，不会正常吃饭。”
这是半年来张展家人首次听到她的情况，他们迄今仍不被允许探监。家人自从张展2020年2月1日前去疫情爆发地武汉就没有见到她的面。我们现在知道，张展自从2020年5月中被捕至今，一直没有正常进食。而在那中间的三个半月里，她大部分时间只有方便面吃......
张展的家人在电话中听到她身体情况恶化的消息，无比伤心；她母亲日夜忧心，长期失眠，身体也不好。我们能期待出现奇迹——当局允许让张展保外就医——么？
当然我们知道，中国当局一向拒绝良心犯保外就医申请：王炳章、黄琦、胡石根、吕耿松、尹旭安......多少良心犯已死于中共监狱，沉冤待雪：郭宏伟（2021）；王美余、纪斯尊（2019）；杨天水、刘晓波（2017）；彭明（2016）；张六毛（2015）；曹顺利（2014）；李旺阳（2012）；力虹（2010）......
坚不认罪、持续绝食的张展能否坚持到四年刑满的那一天，在2024年5月13日活着走出高墙？
请转发、帮助呼吁更多人关注狱中中国公民记者张展的境况！非常感谢！
另外，今年9月2日是张展38岁生日
【对绝食中的张展，说一句生日快乐 】
张展关注组征集朋友们想对张展或她父母说的话，请在8月20日前电邮 freezhangzhannow@protonmail.com
如果您愿意自己给她写信寄卡，地址是：上海女子监狱，上海市松江区泗泾镇张泾路1601号，邮编201601
张展关注组