Jiangsu petitioner Xu Dongqing and her daughter Yang Li have been deprived of their medical rights by the authorities for a long time, leading to Xu Dongqing, who suffers from heart disease, suffering a second stroke with doctors saying it is incurable. Yang Li, who has kidney disease, has also not been able to seek medical treatment and her condition has deteriorated to end-stage renal failure.
Recently, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li had an appointment at a Beijing hospital for April 2nd and were preparing to travel to Beijing on April 1st. Upon learning of this, on the morning of March 31st, Xu Dongqing’s husband, Yang Guoliang, was inexplicably arrested by police from the local police station. Xu Dongqing, in a state of panic, collapsed for the second time due to her stroke and lay motionless on the ground until she was eventually sent to Jintan Hospital in Changzhou four hours later.
Jintan Hospital diagnosed her with cerebral hemorrhage, but the family requested transfer to a hospital in Beijing or Shanghai, which was initially denied by the hospital. After more than 5 hours of intense protest, Jintan Hospital finally agreed to transfer her to a hospital in Shanghai. At the Shanghai hospital, doctors informed the family that Xu Dongqing has no chance of recovery. Surgery could prolong her life for a few months, but she would be paralyzed and lose the ability to speak. Without surgery, there is a risk of losing her life at any time.
On April 1st, Xu Dongqing’s daughter Yang Caiying, currently in Japan, arrived at the Chinese Embassy in Japan in frustration, accusing the Chinese Communist regime of depriving and slaughtering rights defenders through medical deprivation.
Yang Caiying told a reporter that on March 31st, surveillance personnel arranged by the authorities at her home informed her that her father, Yang Guoliang, had been arrested by police from the Binhu Police Station. Her mother, Xu Dongqing, had been lying on the ground for hours after her father’s arrest, but the surveillance personnel refused to provide any assistance.
Yang Caiying stated, “On the night of March 30th, I informed the director of Xicheng Street, Lu Liu Kang, that my family would be going to Beijing for medical treatment on the 31st and provided him with the outpatient appointment information, requesting assistance from the government. On the morning of April 1st, my father went out to buy rice bran and was arrested by police officers from the Binhu Police Station such as Wang Jun. The reason for the arrest may be the authorities deliberately depriving us of medical treatment.”
“My mother has been lying on the ground for hours after my father’s arrest, and the surveillance personnel present at the scene did not provide any help. When my sister learned that our father had been arrested, she requested help from them in daily life, but was also refused.”
“My sister and mother are both suffering from severe medical deprivation and persecution ordered by Jiangsu Provincial Political and Legal Committee Secretary Li Yaoguang just because they exposed illegal land acquisition and unlawful handling by the public security. My sister has been persecuted to end-stage renal failure and still cannot receive medical treatment, while my mother has been kept in the dark about a major malignant tumor. Both of them are hanging by a thread.”
In October 2024, Yang Li and her mother Xu Dongqing went to Beijing for medical treatment and petitioning, but were sentenced to 1 year and 3 months and 1 year and 2 months in prison for “provoking trouble.”
In August 2025, Yang Li was announced to have deteriorated to end-stage renal failure while in detention at Changzhou Detention Center, urgently needing dialysis treatment. However, the detention center continuously refused to provide medical treatment citing a lack of leadership approval. After being released in December 2025, she has been continuously intercepted and deprived of medical treatment by the Jintan police. In November 2025, Xu Dongqing went to Jintan People’s Hospital for examination after being released from prison and was kept in the dark about a major brain condition. Twenty days later, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was admitted to the ICU for rescue.
On February 11, 2026, Yang Li arrived at Peking University First Hospital for treatment with her parents, but faced pressure from Jintan authorities. Despite receiving a hospitalization notice, the hospital continued to refuse treatment for Yang Li. Around 3:30 am on March 3rd, Yang Li and her parents were forcibly abducted back to Jiangsu by plainclothes police from Jintan.
Yang Li and her father have repeatedly protested against the deprivation of their medical rights by the authorities, but the authorities have refused to communicate and address medical issues, opting for continued suppression and persecution.
On March 21, 2026, Yang Li fainted and went to Jintan Hospital for a blood test, which showed her eGFR was 3.69 ml/min/1.73m², creatinine 982.0 μmol/L, blood urea nitrogen 36.11 mmol/L, accompanied by severe anemia (red blood cell count 2.51 × 10¹²/L, hemoglobin 78). Currently, Yang Li can hardly move, and even slight movement causes difficulty in breathing, with severe heart failure. Without treatment, her life is equally at risk.
Yang Caiying also mentioned that multiple officials in Jintan repeatedly informed her family that when they all pass away, the government can confiscate all their property, eliminating the issue of land acquisition and demolition, saving the government from a headache.