Human Rights Lawyer Wang Yu Extremely Weak After Hunger Strike; Husband Bao Longjun Reveals Details

Wang Yu was detained for 9 days on October 23 for "disturbing office order." She began a hunger strike to protest the unjust restrictions on her freedom and the treatment in the detention center. (Weiquan Net)

People News Report — Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu was released after nine days in detention and nine days of a hunger strike. According to her husband, Bao Longjun, Wang Yu is extremely weak and, after visiting two hospitals, has returned to the hotel. Why did Wang Yu go on a hunger strike? What did she experience in the detention center?

According to Radio Free Asia, on the morning of November 1, human rights lawyer Wang Yu was released from the Weicheng Detention Center in Hebei Province. Due to her nine-day hunger strike, her body was extremely weak, and her husband, Bao Longjun, and others rushed her to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Bao Longjun explained that Wang Yu, along with lawyers Jiang Tianyong and others, had traveled to Weixian in Handan, Hebei, to represent the case of Liu Meixiang. During the case, Liu’s husband, Qiu Bin, got into a confrontation with police while photographing outside the courtroom, leading Wang Yu to call the police. “Wang Yu was merely reporting the incident. She arrived at the police station with her client and quietly waited outside while her client gave a statement. She did nothing but wait. However, they claimed that Wang Yu was making a scene, insulting the police, and disturbing office order. This was entirely fabricated—a clear case of framing her.”

Wang Yu was detained on October 23 for "disturbing office order" for nine days. She subsequently went on a hunger strike to protest the unjust restriction of her freedom and her treatment in the detention center.

Wang Yu Could Not Walk After Release

Bao Longjun explained that he and a friend arrived at the detention center before 6 a.m. on November 1 and waited for two hours without seeing any movement. Finally, after 8 a.m., they saw Wang Yu being supported as she came out.

Bao described Wang Yu as "stooped over, clearly unable to walk." When he carried her, he said, “She felt like a bundle of cotton, extremely light—probably only around 35 kilograms (about 77 pounds).” Wang Yu told Bao that in the early morning hours of November 1, she had vomited blood a few times.

At Weixian People’s Hospital, doctors found a shadow on her liver but couldn’t determine the cause, so Bao decided to transfer her to the Handan Central Hospital, a top-tier facility, for further examination. By the afternoon, Wang Yu had been given IV fluids and eaten some millet porridge and a small bowl of noodles, gradually regaining some energy. However, doctors still could not give a definite diagnosis for the shadow on her liver.

Bao Longjun shared that they have now returned to their hotel.

According to Bao, Wang Yu’s hunger strike was both a protest against her unlawful detention and against the unfair treatment during her incarceration.

Conditions in the Detention Center: Cold, Ruthless, Inhumane

While Wang Yu was detained at the police station, the lunch provided to her was minimal. She gave her meal to a detained child, and that evening, the police did not give her dinner. Bao explained, “Initially, it was a matter of defiance—‘If you don’t give me food, I won’t eat your food anymore.’”

According to Bao, when Wang was transferred to the Weixian Detention Center, the conditions were abysmal. The daily meal consisted of a bowl of rice porridge, a bun, and some pickled vegetables. Drinking water was not provided, only tap water. Both drinking and bathing relied on tap water, which was cold and only available at specific times.

Wang Yu was only on a hunger strike, not a water strike, but due to her stomach issues, she couldn’t drink cold water. When she requested hot water, the detention center did not provide it, leaving her with no water. Bao believes this lack of water was one of the reasons for her extreme physical weakness.

Bao described his interactions with the police and detention center staff as "cold and unfeeling."

On the seventh day of her hunger strike, Bao became increasingly concerned about her condition and submitted a legal opinion requesting medical treatment for Wang Yu. He told Radio Free Asia, “No one at the Weixian Public Security Bureau was willing to accept my legal opinion. After some dispute, I managed to leave it in the complaints reception room and submitted another copy through the case officer, hoping for medical treatment. I also went to the detention center, pressed the doorbell, and said I wanted to see Wang Yu to persuade her to drink water and eat, but they lied, saying there was no need, that she had eaten the previous night—when in fact, she hadn’t.”

Inside the detention center, Wang Yu’s hunger strike goals evolved into demands to change the conditions in the facility. She made five requests: to meet with her lawyer and family, to have her complaint accepted, to receive medical treatment, to read books, and to take a shower. Bao said, “The detention center director met Wang Yu once, said yes, yes, yes, but turned away and did nothing.”

While detained, Wang Yu shared her cell with two young women trafficked from Vietnam. “Wang Yu specifically asked me to buy two sets of clothes for these girls, but when Wang Yu was released, the detention center staff forcibly took the clothes back, saying they belonged to Wang Yu and couldn’t be given to them.”

Bao said their next steps include taking Wang Yu to hospitals in Beijing and Tianjin for further medical examinations. They will also file for a review of the administrative punishment issued by the Weixian police for illegally restricting Wang Yu’s freedom. He said, “Although this country has no real law, we must use whatever we can to speak up for ourselves.”

Human Rights Lawyers Forced to Use Hunger Strikes to Protest

Yu Pinfang, a Chinese human rights lawyer now living in the U.S. and a close friend of Wang Yu and Bao, told Radio Free Asia that Wang Yu is a courageous lawyer who stands firm and does not easily bow to authority. He added that seeing the photo of Bao carrying Wang to the hospital was “heartbreaking.”

Yu explained, “The appropriate way for human rights lawyers to fight should be through facts, evidence, and the law in court to protect clients’ rights. But now, they are forced to use hunger strikes to defend their most basic human rights, which is truly tragic. It shows that the legal system human rights lawyers depend on has collapsed, leaving little room to pursue their legal goals or defend rights.”

He added, “Wang Yu’s actions reflect the will of China’s human rights lawyers to resist and refuse to submit to authoritarianism. Though their space for protest is severely restricted, her actions also show that the fight continues as long as there’s life.”

Wang Ruiqin, founder of Guang Media, also commented, “Prisons and detention centers in China are the darkest, most brutal places in the judicial system, with no procedures or protections. It is a hidden corner that society has long neglected.” Wang Yu’s struggle, she said, could bring attention to this overlooked area at great personal sacrifice.

However, Wang Ruiqin advised human rights lawyers against choosing hunger strikes, given the physical toll, and urged pro-democracy allies to avoid this form of protest.