中文版见下方
Around this time last year, Zhang Zhan's family said she was "close to death" in prison after a hunger strike. She was twice listed as No.1 on One Free Press Coalition's '10 Most Urgent' list. How is she doing now?

On 10 December 2022, Zhang Zhan's friend lawyer Li Dawei shared his phone conversation with her mother Ms Shao the day before. Mr Li revealed that Ms Shao was allowed a video call with her daughter in August, before having cancer surgery. 

In August 2022, Zhang Zhan was still unwell; her weight only increased slightly to 41kg. Since then, she was allowed a short phone call with her mother every month, each lasting 5-10 min. However, her mother could not get any information from these calls about how she was doing.

On 14 December, Zhang Zhan's brother tweeted images of a letter she wrote to her family on 5 October and the envelope with a postmark dated 28 November. Why has it taken the prison so long to post a letter?

A Chinese HRD who has served a prison sentence said:
“All communication [a prisoner makes] with the outside world, including phone calls, letters and meetings, is taken seriously and carefully prepared and designed in advance by the prison and even the city and provincial prison administration bureaus. They either politely hint or directly tell you what to say and what not to say; have someone enthusiastically cut your hair in advance ... Particular attention is paid to whether you look in good spirits. They remind you to say what you ate recently to highlight the improvement in the food provisions... The prison explicitly told me that all letters I write and receive first go through the provincial prison administration.”

Another said:
“If the prison is not sure, they would even pass the letter to the municipal or provisional Public Security Bureau or the municipal or provisional State Security Bureau to review before making a decision ...For key political prisoners, the prison gives monthly reports to the provincial Prison Administration, the provincial Department of Justice and the provincial State Security Bureau. The party state's control over these people is definitely beyond the imagination of ordinary people, especially for hunger-striking prisoners like Zhang Zhan.” 

Shadows of censorship and control are clearly seen in this letter. The word ‘police’ was mentioned 4 times. Zhang Zhan mentioned how happy she was to get permission from a police officer to write this letter, and on the day she wrote it, the officer had a conversation with her and told her to “be strong” and “not to be too depressed”. She wrote, “Therefore, I can only write here to say to Mum, take it easy…” In the letter, Zhang Zhan mainly comforted & blessed her family, especially her mother. She clearly showed that she remained strong in her spirit. 

With regard to her situation in jail, she simply wrote: “Everything is fine with me. On my birthday, the police gave me special food: braised pork, cheese cake. On National Day, the prison gave us a day off and extra food, including pork trotter soup and snow fungus soup.”

She didn’t say whether the dishes were any good, and indeed whether she tasted any of them.

So, how’s Zhang Zhan? A key indicator is her weight. The normal healthy weight range is 58kg-78kg for a Chinese woman with 177cm height. She weighed about 75kg before her arrest in Wuhan in May 2020. She started refusing food from the day of her arrest, and started a full hunger strike in late June 2020. She was forcibly fed by tube, legs shackled and hands restrained for months. After her trial in December 2020, she suspended her full hunger strike but maintained that she would not resume normal eating as long as she is in custody.

In August 2021, her family was informed by Shanghai Women’s Prison that she weighed less than 40kg and her life was in danger as a result of her long-term partial hunger strike. In October 2021, via a video call, her mother saw her having further lost weight; she wasn’t able to walk or even lift her head. In January 2022, via a video call, her mother saw her looking better; she was able to walk without help. In August 2022, she still only weighed 41kg.

Since August, there has been no news about Zhang Zhan's health. We do not know how she has been eating, or how the prison is treating her: what kind of diet and medical regimen is provided, any outdoor exercise time, what labour is she asked to do...

If Zhang Zhan’s weight is still far below normal level, it means that either she is still on a partial hunger strike, or that her health is so poor that she cannot absorb nutrients properly. 

We want to ask the Chinese authorities: 

• How much does she weigh now? 
• Why has she not been allowed a video call with her mother since August?
• What medical treatment has she been given, if any?

Of course, we are so pleased that after two years and seven months, we get to see a precious letter handwritten by Zhang Zhan. Still the Zhang Zhan we know: kind, calm, strong in her convictions. No prison walls can change her. She wrote, “I see myself as a free person.”

To encourage her mother, she quoted from the Bible: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…”

On both sides of the envelope, Zhang Zhan drew lovely flowers to please her mother. Under a drawing of Prunus mume, she quoted a tribute to the fragrant plant that blooms in the bitter cold, ending with a statement: “People ought to be like Prunus mume.” 

This might be the most important message in this letter, showing Zhang Zhan's heart of perseverance & encouraging whoever sees it. On the other hand, might “ruggedness, bones…” also be her self-portrait?
(See the Chinese original update here: https://freezhangzhan.org/letter2022/ 

2022年国际人权日，终于听到张展和她家人的一点音讯。李大伟律师发出了他在前一天即12月9日与张展母亲通话得到的消息： 

张展的母亲在今年8月通过视频见到女儿状态仍不太好，体重只有41公斤。这与张展关注组在8月曾发布的消息一致：张展未恢复正常进食，健康堪忧。
张展母亲近期能每月和女儿通电话，但电话中只听张展问候做手术、化疗的妈妈。
家人能收到张展的家信，她还在信封上画上好看的画儿，逗母亲开心。
但是，张展家人仍无法得知她的具体情况——来自监狱的信件和电话，信息量可想而知。她的家人一定多么希望及时知道她的身体状况，却在8月后再也没有得到视频见面的机会。

2022年12月14日，中国对疫情防疫“松绑”一周，久未上推的张展哥哥发推两则，贴出了张展一封家书和信封的照片。这是张展被捕两年七个月以来，外界第一次看到她亲手写下的文字。

这封信，张展写于10月5日，但从信封可见，有关部门拖至11月28日才寄出。为什么要这么久？

听听过来人的见证：

“每一次与外界的交流，包括电话、写信、会见都被监狱甚至市省监狱管理局高度重视并提前精心准备、设计，或委婉暗示或直接要求你说什么、不说什么，或提前让人热心帮你理发……尤其重视你看起来是否精神、提醒你说出最近改善伙食吃的什么……监狱明确告诉我写出、收到的信都首先经过省监狱管理局。”

“狱方如拿捏不准，甚至将信交给公安厅（局）国安厅（局）审查后再做定夺……对重点政治犯，监狱每月给省监狱管理局、省司法厅和省国安厅报告。党国对这些人的管控力度，绝对超乎常人的想象，尤其是对张展这样绝食对抗的人，管控力度更大。”

就这样，一封满载张展对做癌症手术的母亲的思念、牵挂的家信，不知经过多少人层层审查，七个多星期后才姗姗上路。

审查的痕迹在信中多处可见。

两页纸四次提到警察。一开头张展就说，写信要得到警察许可——这是自然。写信那天警察找了她谈话，要“坚强点”、不要“过分忧闷”，言下之意要她在信中传递“正能量”，她写道：

“这样我只能在信里给妈妈说，放宽心……”

这已经说得不能再明白了。她只能在信里写这些话，若写其他的恐怕难以通过审查。

张展在信中主要问候、宽慰、祝福家人，也表明自己心中的力量仍然坚定。“我是论自己是自由的”；“耶稣在我的痛苦中添加了许多甜蜜，也让我对更加淡然一点对待一些摩擦”。这是张展特有的表述风格，没有基督教术语。她说希望母亲能够、自己也是正在努力去“面对不可爱之事之人还能爱”。

张展平平常常的话里，既表明她坚强的根基所在，也透露她真实的处境，不乏“摩擦”、“不可爱之事之人”。 关于狱中现况，张展只写了这句：

“我一切都好。生日那天警察还给我开了小灶，有红烧肉、奶酪蛋糕。国庆监狱也放假，伙食增加了各种花样，还有猪蹄汤、银耳汤等。”

注意张展没有说： 这些东西好吃吗？她有品尝吗？

对于长期绝食、严重营养不良、一度生命垂危的人来说，体重是一个关键性健康状况指标。

按张展的身高177厘米，正常体重范围是58-78公斤；
被捕前，张展的体重是75公斤；
2020年11月，张展对律师说因没有镜子不知道自己的样子，估计体重降到了60公斤左右；
2021年8月初，家人接到监狱消息，得知张展体重降到不到40公斤，有生命危险；
2021年10月底，家人在视频中看到张展更为消瘦，生命垂危；
2022年8月，家人得知张展体重41公斤（近乎被囚前的一半）。
此后，关于张展的健康情况再无确切消息，不仅她目前的体重多少，她病情发展情况、进食情况、监狱如何对待她（提供何种饮食医疗方案、放风等），全都一概不知。 若张展体重仍未恢复，还是远远不到正常水平，就说明她仍在继续绝食或半绝食，或者因为长期绝食造成的对健康不可逆的损伤，她的身体状况太差，进食困难或无法正常吸收营养。

我们想知道：

张展目前体重多少？

她为何8月后至今再也不能和家人视频见面？

从张展这封宝贵的家书中，当然我们也瞥见了希望。

最大的鼓励当然是张展流露出的一如既往的内心笃定、灵魂自由。她对患癌做手术的母亲的牵挂、对家人的关爱也可看到她细腻可亲的一面。

一位推友评论：“张展姊妹，她的身体虽在铁窗之内，她的灵魂早已展翅高飞，而我们这些铁窗之外的人，可能正好相反。”

像张展这样的在囚者，会赢得一些监管人员的尊重、善待，也不奇怪。

虽然仍不知她能否收到圣经，能有书、画、纸、笔使用，能给家人写信、打电话，也令人欣慰。

张展在信中引用圣经中的“压伤的芦苇，祂不折断；将残的灯火，祂不吹灭”，希望母亲“心里生命之火越烧越旺，可以翻越人生的一座又一座山丘”。这应许、这盼望不正也适用于张展自己吗？

若是在8月得知母亲病情之后，张展开始更多地顾念家人，而愿意保重自己、停止绝食，那何尝不是我们乐于看到的呢？自从2020年9月张展在看守所绝食的消息传出之后，这两年多以来她的安危牵动了多少人的心！多么盼望她能够恢复健康！

“峥嵘突兀如铁，为骨凛然冰姿，为人当如梅。”信封上的这句与信内的温情截然不同，这可能是作为自由战士的张展写此信唯一明志之语。自从2020年12月28日张展在法庭受审后，我们再也没有看到她的样子，只能通过她家人传出的描述去想象。狱中张展临摹的一株傲立寒梅，许是她自己模样的写照。

张展关注组
2022年12月17日

全文见：https://freezhangzhan.org/letter2022/