Family says Beijing prison dispute delays cancer care for jailed journalist
Dong Yuyu’s family says prison authorities are fighting over his cancer treatment as scans in Tianjin found a lung mass and arrhythmia. Rights groups want medical parole and outside care.
Scans in Tianjin found a lung mass in the 64-year-old journalist Dong Yuyu, and doctors detected arrhythmia. Prison authorities are still disputing where he should be treated for a possible cancer, and his family says his medical care remains under prison control while rights groups press for medical parole and treatment outside China.
Dong, a former editor and columnist at the state-owned Guangming Daily, was arrested in February 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing. A closed-door trial ended with a seven-year espionage sentence in November 2024, and the Beijing High Court rejected his appeal in November 2025. He was transferred from a Beijing prison to Chaobai Prison in Tianjin on March 17, 2026, a move his family says turned visits from about a 40-minute drive into a trip of more than two hours.
After he reported heart palpitations and discomfort, prison doctors hospitalized him at a prison-affiliated hospital in Tianjin on April 27 or April 28, depending on the account. Doctors found a mass in the lower lobe of his left lung. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the tumor measured 3.3 by 2.2 centimeters and needed further scans to determine whether it was malignant. His family and rights groups also say doctors found arrhythmia, including premature atrial and ventricular contractions, and placed him on a 24-hour Holter monitor, but did not share the results with the family.
According to PEN International, Dong told relatives his symptoms were linked to prolonged forced labor and too little rest. A chest X-ray when he was transferred to Beijing No. 2 Prison in November 2025 showed no abnormality. His family and advocacy groups say he has become very thin and has been forced to spend long hours making garments in prison labor. The family said he is "effectively facing a death sentence," and said it hoped the issue would be raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping by U.S. President Donald Trump’s team at a planned summit next week.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and PEN International have all called on Chinese authorities to grant Dong medical parole and, ideally, permission to travel abroad for treatment and reunite with his family. CPJ puts China at at least 51 journalists behind bars and honored Dong with its 2025 International Press Freedom Award.
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