On May 11, 2025, in Jiangsu Province, visiting rights defender Xu Dongqing and mother-daughter pair Yang Li were detained by authorities after petitioning in Beijing. Xu Dongqing’s case was publicly tried on May 7 in the Jintan District Court. During the trial, the 72-year-old Xu Dongqing, who suffers from a severe heart condition, experienced three heart attacks and the trial had to be adjourned three times. However, the judges insisted on proceeding with the trial until it ended at 6:30 PM.
Xu Dongqing accused Jiangsu authorities of large-scale illegal land seizures and abandoning land, as well as fabricated cases by the police and procuratorate in Jintan, leading to her persecution. Despite being labeled as a public trial, the Public Security Bureau in Changzhou had pressured petitioners the day before and restricted them from attending as observers.
Xu Dongqing’s daughter, Yang Caiying, who resides in Japan, told reporters, “During the trial, my mother Xu Dongqing accused the authorities of shamelessness and ruthless treatment of a seriously ill mother and daughter. She accused the local public security bureau of consistently preventing them from seeking medical treatment, fabricating false accusations, and violently attacking and kidnapping them under the guise of persuasion.”
“Due to extreme agitation, my mother suffered three heart attacks during the trial, leading to three adjournments. Despite my mother’s condition, the prosecutors and judges forced the trial to continue until around 6:30 PM to complete the formalities,” Yang Caiying expressed.
Before the trial, the prosecutors tried to persuade Xu Dongqing to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence, promising leniency if they refrain from petitioning in Beijing and maintaining a cooperative attitude. However, defense lawyers argued that petitioning is not a crime, and they demanded a lenient judgment given the lack of criminal evidence. Yet, the prosecutors and judges claimed they couldn’t make independent decisions.
Yang Caiying revealed, “In early May, internal sources from the Changzhou Public Security Bureau informed me that the unjust cases of my mother Xu Dongqing and sister Yang Li were personally ordered and instructed by Jiangsu Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary Li Yaoguang and Deputy Secretary Liang Yibo.”
Furthermore, on October 12, 2024, the deputy director of the Binhu Police Station in Jintan, Changzhou, explicitly stated to Xu Dongqing’s family that she would be detained for three days, and the leadership would decide further actions after that period. This corroborated the earlier information.
Yang Li’s case was heard on April 21, with the same prosecution and judicial officers, Liu Zhan and Wang Nannan, presiding. Suffering from kidney disease, Yang Li did not receive proper medical attention during detention, leading to worsening health. On the day of the trial, she had to be supported into the courtroom and suffered a heart attack due to complications with kidney issues. Despite the emergency, the trial was forced to continue until 6:30 PM.
For sixteen years, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li have been petitioning and accusing the Jiangsu authorities of fraudulent land confiscations. The police and prosecutor’s office in Jintan have falsified documents, claiming that the land has been acquired by the state, thus preventing proper legal actions.
Xu Dongqing and Yang Li often used opportunities to seek medical treatment in Beijing to lodge complaints at the National Petition Office or to petition President Xi Jinping outside the Zhongnanhai. Consequently, they were intercepted and prevented from reaching Beijing by the then-director of Jiangsu Provincial Petition Office (currently Minister of Social Work in Jiangsu Province) Tian Hong and Changzhou Party Secretary Chen Jinhua.
In October 2024, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li were arrested by the Jintan authorities in Changzhou after petitioning in Beijing and subsequently formally arrested.
Yang Caiying emphasized, “The case of my sister Yang Li mirrors the false charges and fabrications in Xu Dongqing’s case.”