China Aid has received information from sources in China that Wang Yi, the imprisoned pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church, may be suffering from advanced liver cancer. Because of severe restrictions surrounding his imprisonment and limited family access China Aid has not been able to independently verify the reported diagnosis or his current medical condition.
Wang Yi (53), the founder and senior pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has been imprisoned since a large-scale crackdown on his church in December 2018. He was sentenced in December 2019 to nine years in prison followed by three years’ deprivation of political rights on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations” and is being held in Chengdu’s Jintang Prison, with an expected release date in December 2027.
During Pastor Wang’s imprisonment there have been reports that the authorities have held him in solitary confinement, denied medical care and fed him mouldy rice. His wife Jiang Rong was permitted to visit him in October 2021, their first and only known meeting since he was imprisoned.
China Aid calls for access to pastor and medical information
China Aid Founder and President Rev Dr Bob Fu has called for immediate access to the pastor and more information about his condition. “We are gravely concerned by the credible reports we have received that Pastor Wang Yi may be suffering from advanced liver cancer,” he said. “If these reports are accurate, every day without proper medical treatment and family access could have life-or-death consequences.”
He called on the Chinese government, the Sichuan Provincial Prison Administration and Jintang Prison to allow the pastor’s parents, wife and son to visit him and receive complete information about his medical condition and treatment. “Whatever the Chinese government’s position regarding Pastor Wang Yi’s imprisonment, there can be no justification for denying a seriously ill prisoner access to his family and adequate medical care,” he said. “China Aid calls for immediate family visitation, independent medical evaluation, and all necessary treatment without delay.”
China Aid is urging foreign governments, diplomatic missions in China, religious freedom organisations and churches worldwide to seek clarification about Pastor Wang’s health, adequate medical care and unrestricted family access.
Dr Fu concluded, “The world is watching. Pastor Wang Yi must not be allowed to die behind prison walls in secrecy. His family deserves to see him, to know his true medical condition, and to be involved in decisions concerning his treatment.”
Read Wang Yi’s Prisoner Profile.
(China Aid)
Photo: Wang Yi Sermons (YouTube)