Relatives and human rights advocates are urgently requesting the immediate release of Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu, citing severe deterioration of his health while incarcerated.
Yuyu, who worked as an editor for the state-run Guangming Daily newspaper, was arrested during a lunch meeting with a Japanese diplomat in 2022 and received a seven-year espionage conviction in 2024.
“Yuyu is now effectively facing a death sentence,” his family declared in a Thursday statement.
According to his relatives, Yuyu was admitted to a Tianjin prison medical facility on April 27, where physicians discovered irregular heart rhythms and a lung mass that his family worries may be cancerous.
His relatives report that he has been forced to work extended shifts manufacturing clothing while imprisoned and has been denied adequate rest periods.
“My mother and I are very sad and anxious,” stated his son Dong Yifu, who lives in the United States and has been campaigning for his father’s freedom.
“The international community must increase pressure on Beijing to secure his release on medical parole, as well as permission for him to travel abroad for treatment and reunite with his family,” declared Aleksandra Bielakowska from Reporters Without Borders.
The family hopes President Donald Trump’s administration will address Yuyu’s situation during next week’s planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
While employed at Beijing’s government-supported Guangming Daily, Yuyu also contributed to various other outlets, including Chinese periodicals and The New York Times’ Chinese-language platform.
His writings promoted constitutional democracy, governmental reform, and political openness — perspectives that were previously tolerated but are now prohibited topics in China.
