Urgent Petition: Investigate China’s Systematic Persecution and Medical Deprivation
Urgent Petition: Investigate China’s Systematic Persecution and Medical Deprivation
署名活動の主旨
As family members of the victims, we urgently call upon the United Nations and governments worldwide to take immediate action to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Chinese government’s ongoing practices of transnational repression, torture, and denial of medical treatment as part of its systematic persecution. We further call for sanctions against the responsible officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. We demand that the Chinese government immediately and unconditionally release Xu Dongqing, Yang Li, and all other victims, and ensure that they receive urgent and adequate medical treatment.
Case Background
Xu Dongqing, female, 72, suffers from severe heart disease and grade 3 hypertension. Her daughter, Yang Li, female, 46, has stage 4 IgA nephropathy. Since 2009, due to violent land expropriation and judicial injustice perpetrated by the local government in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, the entire family has been subjected to long-term retaliation.
Since February 2023, because they sought medical treatment in Beijing and attempted to petition authorities, they have been systematically persecuted by Jiangsu police, subjected to digital surveillance, beatings, abduction, denial of medical care, arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment.
AP journalists conducted a sustained follow-up investigation into the petitioning and rights-defense efforts of Xu Dongqing, Yang Li, and their family member Yang Guoliang. In the investigative report published on September 9, 2025, it detailed how they were subjected to digital surveillance and systematic repression by the Chinese government due to their petitioning activities (see the original report link below).
Escalation of Reprisals Due to Overseas Advocacy
Family member Yang Caiying sought assistance from the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagoya in April 2023 but received no response. In July of the same year, she began peaceful human rights advocacy activities and, from January to September 2024, repeatedly submitted information to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). She also urged democratic countries to impose sanctions on the responsible officials, and publicly released video evidence showing Jiangsu plainclothes police conducting surveillance and abductions, thereby exposing the truth.
In October 2024, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li were criminally detained at the instigation of senior Jiangsu provincial officials. They were initially detained on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and, 37 days later, formally arrested on the charge of “disrupting the work of state organs.” In the indictment, the prosecution characterized Yang Caiying’s peaceful human rights advocacy as what it called “disseminating false information through foreign media and maliciously attacking the political system, government, and state leaders.” This pattern of accusation is commonly used to suppress peaceful expression, lawful petitioning, and freedom of speech, demonstrating that the case constitutes retaliatory transnational repression.
Torture, Ill-Treatment, and Denial of Medical Care in Detention (Life Under Severe Threat)
Both women have been subjected to prolonged torture, ill-treatment, and denial of medical care while detained in the Changzhou Detention Center:
• Yang Li: In November 2024, after protesting human rights abuses by officials, she was shackled by both hands and feet for four days. When she went on hunger strike, she was subjected to forced feeding. In January 2025, she developed heart failure, renal anemia, severe pain, and significant swelling. In protest against the denial of medical care and food-related abuse, she was forced to undertake multiple hunger strikes, each time resulting in forced feeding. Authorities subsequently refused to disclose her test results and deliberately concealed her condition. By May 2025, her illness had progressed to the brink of requiring dialysis. The detention facility’s doctor warned that her condition was severe, unsuitable for detention, and recommended immediate medical treatment and dietary improvement. However, the facility consistently refused to implement these recommendations, citing “lack of leadership approval.”
• Xu Dongqing: In January 2025, torture caused a knee injury, leaving her dependent on daily painkillers in order to sleep. Due to food-related abuse, she suffered gastrointestinal injury and was forced to rely on intravenous infusions to sustain life. In July 2025, she fell into a coma and required emergency resuscitation, but the detention facility has since refused to disclose details of her condition.
Defense lawyers and family members repeatedly applied for release on medical parole, all of which were rejected on the grounds of a so-called “potential risk of committing new crimes.” Multiple requests for access to their medical records were also denied.
The trials of Xu Dongqing and Yang Li took place on April 21 and May 7, 2025, respectively, but no verdict has yet been issued.
Not an Isolated Case, but the Tip of the Iceberg
The cases of Xu Dongqing and Yang Li are not isolated, but rather typical examples of China’s transnational repression and systematic persecution. In April 2025, New Zealand media reported that human rights defender Jian Xing’s father in China was subjected to retaliatory detention. In July 2025, 18 victims from Jiangsu jointly filed a complaint against senior provincial officials for systemic persecution. In August 2025, human rights defender Yin Xuan issued a public statement accusing senior Hubei officials of directing systematic persecution against him. These cases illustrate a common pattern of transnational repression and systemic persecution carried out by Chinese authorities.
Appeal
To ensure that Xu Dongqing and Yang Li receive urgent and adequate medical treatment and are released without conviction at the earliest possible date; to put an end to the Chinese government’s ongoing transnational repression and systematic persecution; and to jointly defend human rights and freedom of expression, we call on people worldwide to sign this joint appeal. We welcome experts, scholars, parliamentarians, lawyers, victims, and family members to participate publicly, clearly expressing their stance.
This joint appeal will be submitted to: the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, parliamentary human rights committees and diplomatic missions of various countries, and international human rights organizations.
AP News investigative report published on September 9, 2025:
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
Takeaways from AP’s investigation into how US tech companies enabled China’s digital police state
中国警察による監視、尾行、と拉致。 Tracking, surveillance, and kidnapping by Chinese police. 来自中国公安的跟踪监视和绑架。
尹旭安公开控诉系统性迫害 / Yin Xuan publicly denounces systemic persecution(Chinese)
Institutional Endorsements: Open for invitation
Public Endorsements: Experts, scholars, lawyers, parliamentarians, victims, or family members of the victims are invited to publicly endorse this petition by submitting the form.
Initiator: Yang Caiying（Daughter of Xu Dongqing and elder sister of Yang Li）
Release Date: September 9, 2025 JST
First Submission Deadline: September 20, 2025（Ahead of the HRC60 General Debate, September 23–29）
Further Endorsements: Accepted beyond September 20 for subsequent submissions
2
署名活動の主旨
As family members of the victims, we urgently call upon the United Nations and governments worldwide to take immediate action to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Chinese government’s ongoing practices of transnational repression, torture, and denial of medical treatment as part of its systematic persecution. We further call for sanctions against the responsible officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. We demand that the Chinese government immediately and unconditionally release Xu Dongqing, Yang Li, and all other victims, and ensure that they receive urgent and adequate medical treatment.
Case Background
Xu Dongqing, female, 72, suffers from severe heart disease and grade 3 hypertension. Her daughter, Yang Li, female, 46, has stage 4 IgA nephropathy. Since 2009, due to violent land expropriation and judicial injustice perpetrated by the local government in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, the entire family has been subjected to long-term retaliation.
Since February 2023, because they sought medical treatment in Beijing and attempted to petition authorities, they have been systematically persecuted by Jiangsu police, subjected to digital surveillance, beatings, abduction, denial of medical care, arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment.
AP journalists conducted a sustained follow-up investigation into the petitioning and rights-defense efforts of Xu Dongqing, Yang Li, and their family member Yang Guoliang. In the investigative report published on September 9, 2025, it detailed how they were subjected to digital surveillance and systematic repression by the Chinese government due to their petitioning activities (see the original report link below).
Escalation of Reprisals Due to Overseas Advocacy
Family member Yang Caiying sought assistance from the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagoya in April 2023 but received no response. In July of the same year, she began peaceful human rights advocacy activities and, from January to September 2024, repeatedly submitted information to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). She also urged democratic countries to impose sanctions on the responsible officials, and publicly released video evidence showing Jiangsu plainclothes police conducting surveillance and abductions, thereby exposing the truth.
In October 2024, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li were criminally detained at the instigation of senior Jiangsu provincial officials. They were initially detained on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and, 37 days later, formally arrested on the charge of “disrupting the work of state organs.” In the indictment, the prosecution characterized Yang Caiying’s peaceful human rights advocacy as what it called “disseminating false information through foreign media and maliciously attacking the political system, government, and state leaders.” This pattern of accusation is commonly used to suppress peaceful expression, lawful petitioning, and freedom of speech, demonstrating that the case constitutes retaliatory transnational repression.
Torture, Ill-Treatment, and Denial of Medical Care in Detention (Life Under Severe Threat)
Both women have been subjected to prolonged torture, ill-treatment, and denial of medical care while detained in the Changzhou Detention Center:
• Yang Li: In November 2024, after protesting human rights abuses by officials, she was shackled by both hands and feet for four days. When she went on hunger strike, she was subjected to forced feeding. In January 2025, she developed heart failure, renal anemia, severe pain, and significant swelling. In protest against the denial of medical care and food-related abuse, she was forced to undertake multiple hunger strikes, each time resulting in forced feeding. Authorities subsequently refused to disclose her test results and deliberately concealed her condition. By May 2025, her illness had progressed to the brink of requiring dialysis. The detention facility’s doctor warned that her condition was severe, unsuitable for detention, and recommended immediate medical treatment and dietary improvement. However, the facility consistently refused to implement these recommendations, citing “lack of leadership approval.”
• Xu Dongqing: In January 2025, torture caused a knee injury, leaving her dependent on daily painkillers in order to sleep. Due to food-related abuse, she suffered gastrointestinal injury and was forced to rely on intravenous infusions to sustain life. In July 2025, she fell into a coma and required emergency resuscitation, but the detention facility has since refused to disclose details of her condition.
Defense lawyers and family members repeatedly applied for release on medical parole, all of which were rejected on the grounds of a so-called “potential risk of committing new crimes.” Multiple requests for access to their medical records were also denied.
The trials of Xu Dongqing and Yang Li took place on April 21 and May 7, 2025, respectively, but no verdict has yet been issued.
Not an Isolated Case, but the Tip of the Iceberg
The cases of Xu Dongqing and Yang Li are not isolated, but rather typical examples of China’s transnational repression and systematic persecution. In April 2025, New Zealand media reported that human rights defender Jian Xing’s father in China was subjected to retaliatory detention. In July 2025, 18 victims from Jiangsu jointly filed a complaint against senior provincial officials for systemic persecution. In August 2025, human rights defender Yin Xuan issued a public statement accusing senior Hubei officials of directing systematic persecution against him. These cases illustrate a common pattern of transnational repression and systemic persecution carried out by Chinese authorities.
Appeal
To ensure that Xu Dongqing and Yang Li receive urgent and adequate medical treatment and are released without conviction at the earliest possible date; to put an end to the Chinese government’s ongoing transnational repression and systematic persecution; and to jointly defend human rights and freedom of expression, we call on people worldwide to sign this joint appeal. We welcome experts, scholars, parliamentarians, lawyers, victims, and family members to participate publicly, clearly expressing their stance.
This joint appeal will be submitted to: the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, parliamentary human rights committees and diplomatic missions of various countries, and international human rights organizations.
AP News investigative report published on September 9, 2025:
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
Takeaways from AP’s investigation into how US tech companies enabled China’s digital police state
中国警察による監視、尾行、と拉致。 Tracking, surveillance, and kidnapping by Chinese police. 来自中国公安的跟踪监视和绑架。
尹旭安公开控诉系统性迫害 / Yin Xuan publicly denounces systemic persecution(Chinese)
Institutional Endorsements: Open for invitation
Public Endorsements: Experts, scholars, lawyers, parliamentarians, victims, or family members of the victims are invited to publicly endorse this petition by submitting the form.
Initiator: Yang Caiying（Daughter of Xu Dongqing and elder sister of Yang Li）
Release Date: September 9, 2025 JST
First Submission Deadline: September 20, 2025（Ahead of the HRC60 General Debate, September 23–29）
Further Endorsements: Accepted beyond September 20 for subsequent submissions
2
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