In Sichuan, China, Pastor Wang Yi of the Chinese house church “Early Rain Covenant Church”, who is currently serving a sentence in prison, has recently been reported to be suffering from terminal liver cancer, sparking high international concern. Despite the prison authorities denying the rumors of his critical condition when questioned by family members, the public believes that the prison’s statements are difficult to verify, leading to calls for authorities to disclose Wang Yi’s specific medical condition and current situation.
At the age of 53, Wang Yi was previously a human rights lawyer, scholar, and writer, and was selected as one of the “most influential public intellectuals” by the outspoken Chinese media “Nanfang Dushi Zhoukan” in 2004. He converted to Christianity in 2005 and later became a pastor. In December 2018, the Chinese Communist Party launched a large-scale crackdown on the Early Rain Covenant Church, leading to Wang Yi’s arrest. In December 2019, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison by the Intermediate People’s Court of Chengdu, Sichuan, on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations”. He has now been serving his sentence at the Jingtang Prison in Sichuan for over 7 years and is expected to be released in December 2027, approximately 15 months from now.
However, on September 28, Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid, posted a message on X platform, indicating that the organization recently received information from multiple sources within China that Wang Yi may have been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Previous reports have stated that Wang Yi is a carrier of the hepatitis B virus.
Bob Fu expressed that due to the strict restrictions on Wang Yi’s communication with the outside world and the family’s inability to have normal and full visits, the organization currently cannot independently verify the details of the diagnosis of “terminal liver cancer” and Wang Yi’s specific medical condition.
He emphasized that if the news is true, delaying treatment or refusing family visits could lead to irreversible, severe consequences. He urged the relevant Chinese authorities to immediately restore family visits, allow independent, reliable medical examinations, and ensure that Wang Yi receives all necessary medical treatment without delay.
Bob Fu explicitly stated that regardless of the political stance the Chinese government holds on the Wang Yi case, they should not deprive critically ill detainees of their basic rights to receive adequate medical care and visit their relatives. He emphasized that the international community is closely monitoring this matter and must not allow Wang Yi to die in prison cut off from his family and with the true situation unknown to the outside world.
Currently, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) still categorizes Wang Yi as a “prisoner of conscience”, and the international community has long been highly concerned about his medical treatment in prison.
Regarding the news of his critical condition, according to reports from the “Taiwan Church News”, on the evening of the 29th, Taiwanese American writer Yu Jie contacted Wang Yi’s family for verification. The family stated that they had spoken with the prison, and the prison claimed that recent medical reports showed “normal liver and kidney function” for Wang Yi.
However, Pastor Huang Chunsheng of the “Jinan Church” in Taiwan remains skeptical of the prison’s statements. He recounted the experience of a former detainee by the Chinese Communist Party who had twice suffered serious illnesses (allergic purpura and acute pancreatitis) during detention, experiencing firsthand the poor medical treatment in prison. He believed that Wang Yi’s actual medical condition in prison is difficult to verify and the prison’s statements may not be trustworthy.
Huang Chunsheng also revealed that some prisoners of conscience in prison are fed expired food or forced to take expired medication for an extended period, leading to gradual deterioration of health. If the food is contaminated with aflatoxins, it could further damage liver function, but such chronic diseases are often only discovered in the severe stage. Huang Chunsheng frankly stated that many people deteriorate in health during imprisonment, die without timely treatment, and this situation essentially amounts to being “sentenced to death”, which the international community must not take lightly.