After Huang Qi, director of 64 Tianwang website, was arrested for “illegally providing state secrets abroad” his 84-year-old mother Pu Wenqing once again urges the Chinese government in this open letter to release her son for medical treatment on humanitarian grounds.

Huang Qi—who has been suffering from many conditions such as hydrocephalus, brain atrophy, emphysema, renal cysts, and liver cysts—met with his lawyer for the first time on July 28, 2017. His lawyer found that Huang Qi’s face, arms, and legs were all swollen, as he has been forced to stand on duty for four hours straight every day at the detention center. Pu Wenqing worries that, if this situation continues, her seriously ill son will die in prison like Liu Xiaobo.

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[Translation by Human Rights in China]

I am Huang Qi’s mother, 84 years old this year. On the evening of November 28, 2016, my son Huang Qi (黄琦) was forcibly taken away by the Mianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau in Sichuan. On December 16, 2016, he was arrested on suspicion of “illegally providing state secrets abroad,” and as of now, has been in custody for 249 days. In September 2011, Huang Qi was hospitalized many times at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and diagnosed with the following: 

• kidney ailments: rapid loss of renal function, chronic kidney disease (stage 3), high levels of uric acid in blood (hyperuricemia).
• brain ailments: accumulation of fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus), brain atrophy (encephalatrophy), bilateral cerebral ventricle expansion, expansion of third cerebral ventricle, narrowing of the cerebral aqueduct.
• heart ailments: the electrocardiogram diagnosed a complete right bundle branch block, premature atrial contractions, and abnormal heart rhythm (atrial tachycardia).
• lung ailments: signs of emphysema, both scattered inflammation in the lungs.
• doppler ultrasound diagnosis: renal cysts, liver cysts, enlarged prostate. 
• ailments developed after appendicitis surgery: extensive pelvic adhesions, partial intestinal obstruction. The above ailments have been well-documented.

On July 28, 2017, a lawyer met with Huang Qi. At present, his physical condition is not promising. His hands, feet, and face are swollen, and the guards are forcing Huang Qi to stand on duty four hours a day. To the gravely ill Huang Qi, this is an unbearably heavy burden, and is worrisome given Huang Qi’s physical condition. If this continues, I am very worried that my son Huang Qi will die from illness in prison just like Liu Xiaobo.    

I request that the government release my son Huang Qi on humanitarian grounds to return home for medical treatment.

Pu Wenqing (蒲文清)

Evening of August 3, 2017