A woman suffering from kidney disease, Yang Li, who went to appeal for land acquisition in Jiangsu, has been on a hunger strike to protest against the torture and abuse she suffered in prison. Her creatinine level has reached 561μmol/L, indicating the need for immediate dialysis, but the Changzhou Detention Center has refused to provide medical treatment.
Yang Li, a 46-year-old woman from Jintan District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, was arrested along with her 72-year-old mother, Xu Dongqing, on October 19, 2024, when they went to Beijing to express their grievances at Zhongnanhai. They were charged with “disrupting the work order of state organs” and are currently detained in the Changzhou Detention Center. Xu Dongqing also faces the same charges.
Yang Li’s case went to trial on April 21, 2025. Due to her worsening kidney disease, she was escorted into the courtroom by two bailiffs. During the trial, she suffered a heart attack, received emergency treatment from a doctor, and the trial continued.
Yang Li’s sister, Yang Caiying, told a reporter that the Changzhou Detention Center had blocked the information regarding Yang Li and her mother, Xu Dongqing, for several months, causing great concern to their family. Recently, they finally received an update on the two women. She said, “In late May, my sister Yang Li clashed with the prosecutor at the detention center and was again tortured in a dark room, prompting her to resume her hunger strike protest. Due to repeated torture by the prison authorities, her condition has seriously deteriorated, with her creatinine level now at a critical point of 561μmol/L, needing dialysis at any time, but Changzhou Detention Center has still refused to provide medical treatment.”
Yang Caiying explained the progression of Yang Li’s creatinine level: it was 142μmol/L when she fell ill in 2022; in February 2023, local authorities in Jintan District violently abducted her to prevent her from seeking medical treatment, and her creatinine level rose to 181μmol/L in September 2023; by September 2024, it had reached 210μmol/L. After being arrested, detained, and continuously subjected to torture in the Changzhou Detention Center, her creatinine level soared to 290μmol/L after more than a month; by February 2025, it had reached 311μmol/L. Since May 2025, with no external communication allowed by the detention center, Yang Li’s creatinine level has surged to 561μmol/L, indicating an urgent need for dialysis.
“She has endured days of being shackled and tortured, forcibly fed during her hunger strikes, and when her life was in danger and sent to the hospital for emergency care, she was immediately brought back to the detention center to continue suffering torture,” Yang Caiying said.
Her mother, Xu Dongqing, who has a severe heart condition, was forced to sit on a board for long periods, perform forced labor, deprived of water, leading to knee joint damage that has made her unable to walk. She needs painkillers to sleep every day, and the Changzhou Detention Center also refuses to provide medical treatment for her.
The trials of Yang Li and Xu Dongqing have been postponed to early June, as the prosecutor’s office needs to supplement the investigation.
Yang Caiying criticized the Changzhou Detention Center for systematically torturing detainees. She stated that despite knowing that both women had serious health conditions that required low-sodium diets, they were only provided with pickled vegetables daily. The detainees are rarely allowed outdoor activities, with only one or two times a week being the norm. They are prohibited from informing their families about their health, conditions at the detention center, and are threatened with communication being cut off if they speak about the negative aspects inside.
She argued that the actions of the authorities, including the detention center officials, violated various international laws and conventions regarding the treatment of detainees and their right to medical care.
She called out the Vice Mayor of Changzhou City and Director of the Public Security Bureau, Yu Guiping (who is also in charge of her family’s case), and Changzhou Detention Center’s Zhou Yongjian, accusing them of violating the rights of her sister and mother and causing their health to deteriorate. She demanded to know who was ultimately responsible for the systematic harm inflicted on petitioners and detainees, and where the funds allocated for food were being diverted to.
In conclusion, Yang Caiying urged that according to the regulations of the Chinese law and the public security department, the Changzhou Detention Center had the obligation to safeguard the medical rights, information rights, and communication rights of the detainees. However, they deliberately withheld medical treatment, denied the request for medical parole, disregarded dietary restrictions, concealed the medical status, and intercepted communication from her sister, leading to a critical health condition for Yang Li and severe injuries for her mother, Xu Dongqing.