Four years ago, Zhao Yajing, a woman from Qixian County in Shanxi, China, experienced symptoms such as fatigue, gum swelling, and gum bleeding after being forcibly vaccinated with two doses of the COVID-19 (CCP virus) vaccine. Eight months later, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. In order to seek ways to survive, Zhao Yajing and her husband, Wang Hongyi, reported the situation to relevant departments, but they were deceived, intimidated, and even sentenced.
Zhao Yajing’s condition has been fluctuating and worsening over time. On November 19, 2024, feeling desperate, Zhao Yajing vented on a social platform WeChat group, only to be arrested on charges of “provocation and troublemaking” and sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. Recently, authorities have even threatened to cancel Zhao Yajing’s minimum living allowance.
On November 19, 2024, suffering from unbearable pain due to her illness, Zhao Yajing expressed her despair in a WeChat group chat with friends, criticizing the authorities’ neglect and conveying her sorrow, which unexpectedly led to her arrest on charges of “provocation and troublemaking.”
After a month in detention, Zhao Yajing was reinfected with the CCP virus due to viral gene mutations, resulting in infections in multiple parts of her body (such as pulmonary nodules, gastrointestinal infections, and urinary system infections). On December 20, 2024, she was released on bail pending trial due to the recurring infection.
During her bail period on January 7, 2025, Zhao Yajing went to the National Health Commission to report issues, but was intercepted by a security guard. On January 9, she was put under house arrest by the Qixian County Public Security Bureau.
While under house arrest, Zhao Yajing visited Peking University Hospital for treatment, where the chief physician recommended a transplant for her severe condition, leaving her feeling extremely despondent. Due to the seriousness of her condition requiring a transplant, she was arrested by the Qi County Procuratorate in Jinzhong City on February 26, 2025. The trial took place on March 31, 2025, without informing her family, resulting in a sentence of two years and nine months. Even the family members could not find the trial video on the court’s public website.
Wang Hongyi told a reporter that, “Due to the high medical expenses incurred since the harm caused by the COVID-19 vaccine, our family is heavily indebted and unable to afford a defense lawyer. Currently, we are reporting the issue to the Central Inspection Team, and we have applied to the Qixian People’s Court for medical parole, with no response so far. On May 29, we received a call from government officials, including village leaders, saying they want to cancel Zhao Yajing’s minimum living allowance. Qixian County has left us no way out; I plan to seek appeal after her release.”
“In these years of rights protection, Zhao Yajing has always expressed her demands reasonably and legally, without any extreme behavior. Qixian County in Shanxi has been evasive and deceptive, repeatedly coercing and persecuting us by various means during our petitioning for rights.”
On December 1, 2022, Wang Hongyi and dozens of other victims from across the country reported their situation at the National Health Commission, but were sentenced to six months in prison by the Qixian County Court in Shanxi.
Regarding Zhao Yajing’s ordeal, Yang Caiying, a rights advocate from Jiangsu, said, “I understand the helplessness and despair of Zhao Yajing and her husband. In the WeChat group, many rights-defending petitioners disclosed that Zhao Yajing might face criminal repression from the authorities. Many severely ill petitioners, like my mother and sister, have faced harassment and interception on their way to seek medical treatment.”
Yang Caiying believes that, “The recent surge in criminal persecution cases against petitioners is a systematic crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party. I used to think it was just retaliation from local governments against petitioners until early May, when an informant told me that the criminal persecution against my mother and sister was personally directed and approved by Jiangsu Province Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary Li Yaoguang and Deputy Secretary Liang Yibo. This indicates that this persecution is being carried out under the direct leadership and organization of the provincial level or even higher authorities.”