BANGKOK, Associated Press – In a desperate new appeal, family members of Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu and international press freedom advocates are calling for the immediate release of the 7-year-sentenced editor, whose rapidly deteriorating health has put his life at imminent risk.
Dong, a veteran editor at Beijing-based state-owned Guangming Daily who also contributed commentary to Chinese independent outlets and The New York Times’ Chinese-language platform, was detained in 2022 during a routine lunch meeting with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing. In 2024, Chinese courts convicted him of espionage charges and handed down a seven-year prison term.
In a public statement released Thursday, Dong’s family warned that the journalist’s current condition amounts to a de facto death sentence. According to the family’s account, Dong was admitted to a prison-run hospital in Tianjin on April 27, where medical practitioners diagnosed him with heart arrhythmia and detected a lung tumor that the family suspects is cancerous. The family added that Dong has been forced to work long hours on garment production tasks during his incarceration, with no access to adequate rest to manage his worsening health.
Speaking from the United States, where he has waged a sustained advocacy campaign for his father’s release, Dong Yuyu’s son Dong Yifu shared that he and his grandmother are overwhelmed by grief and anxiety over the rapidly unfolding situation.
International press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders has joined the call for action, with Aleksandra Bielakowska, an activist with the group, urging the global community to ramp up diplomatic pressure on Beijing. The organization is pushing for Beijing to grant Dong medical parole, approve his travel to an overseas medical facility for urgent treatment, and allow him to reunite with his waiting family.
Dong’s family has pinned additional hopes on the upcoming bilateral summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, expressing optimism that world leaders will raise Dong’s case during high-level talks.
Prior to his detention, Dong published commentary advocating for constitutional democracy, political liberalization, and greater government transparency – reform-minded positions that were once permitted for public discussion in Chinese media circles but have become heavily restricted and taboo in recent years under Beijing’s tightening ideological control.