Chinese Petitioner’s Death Followed by Assault on Husband—Family Alleges Official Retaliation

Relatives say years of persecution, medical neglect, and intimidation continued even after the 70-year-old woman died.

Large numbers of petitioners from across China gather near the National Petition Bureau on the first day of the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘Two Sessions’ in Beijing on March 4, 2026. Courtesy of a Chinese petitioner

A Chinese petitioner’s death has sparked new allegations of official retaliation, medical neglect, and intimidation against a family that spent years challenging local officials over a land dispute in eastern China.

Xu Dongqing, a 70-year-old woman from Jiangsu Province, died on May 25 after what relatives describe as years of persecution tied to her efforts to seek redress from the regime authorities. Her death was followed by a violent confrontation at her funeral, where her husband was beaten and hospitalized, according to Xu’s daughter.

She said the incidents are part of a broader campaign by local officials to pressure her family and ultimately seize their assets after the deaths of elderly family members.

Under the communist regime, there is an administrative petitioning system for hearing public complaints and grievances. In practice, it is widely reported by witnesses and human rights groups that the regime routinely dismisses petitioners and often persecutes those who openly criticize or express dissatisfaction with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Funeral Violence Raises New Concerns

Yang Caiying, Xu’s daughter, who lives in Japan, told The Epoch Times that local officials had openly discussed plans to confiscate the family’s property after her parents’ deaths.

She said that in January, a police officer from Binhu Police Station told her sister, Yang Li, while she was in custody, that authorities could take over the family’s assets once her parents and siblings had died.

“Now my mother has died, and they tried to beat my father to death at her funeral,” Yang Caiying said.

Yang alleged that her uncle had been acting under instructions from local political and legal authorities to violently assault Xu’s husband at the funeral. She said he had repeatedly informed family members that regime officials were consulting him regarding family affairs and had pressured them to accept his demands.

Those allegations could not be independently verified by The Epoch Times.

Yang Caiying said her sister called the police dozens of times during the incident, but officers never arrived.

She also accused authorities of interfering with medical treatment after Xu’s death. Yang said individuals she believes were police officers appeared at the hospital dressed in white medical coats and interacted with doctors treating her father.

Years of Petitioning and Alleged Medical Neglect

Xu and her daughter, Yang Li, spent years petitioning CCP authorities over a land requisition and demolition dispute.

According to Yang Caiying, Xu and Yang Li were both persecuted after pursuing complaints against local officials.

She said that Xu endured more than a year of detention, during which she was subjected to mistreatment and denied adequate medical care. She also accused the regime’s detention centers and hospitals of concealing her mother’s diagnosis of a malignant tumor.

Xu suffered from heart disease and was hospitalized after a stroke in late 2025, Yang Caiying said. Local police subsequently restricted her movements, confiscated her phone, and prevented her from seeking medical treatment outside the area.

In February, after intervention from a United Nations special rapporteur, Xu and Yang Li were allowed to travel to Beijing for medical treatment. However, Yang Caiying said the treatment was discontinued after about three weeks, and the two women were forcibly returned to Jintan on March 3.

Later that month, Xu suffered another cerebral hemorrhage and was eventually diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, with only one to two months to live. Relatives said that earlier opportunities for treatment were missed because authorities and medical institutions failed to disclose the severity of her condition.

Daughter Faces Kidney Failure

Yang Caiying said her sister, Yang Li, has also suffered severe health consequences after spending more than a year in detention.

According to her sister, Yang Li developed late-stage kidney disease after prolonged mistreatment and medical neglect while incarcerated. She now requires regular dialysis.

Yang Caiying said doctors have refused to provide certain medications commonly used to treat anemia in dialysis patients, forcing her sister to undergo emergency blood transfusions.

With her mother dead, her father hospitalized, and her sister battling kidney failure, Yang Caiying said she fears the family is being pushed toward collapse.

“My father and sister are both in danger,” she said. “In the end, all of this appears to be about taking everything our family owns.”

Li Xi contributed to this report.