Dear President von der Leyen,

My name is Lyu Zhanqiu, and I come from China (ID Number: xxx). I am writing to you as a former software engineer who, through self-study of law, became actively engaged in peaceful human rights advocacy in China.

On February 17, 2023, I was unlawfully detained, interrogated, subjected to body searches, held in custody, and persecuted simply because I dared to question the legality of police conduct. Under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) authoritarian system, the police, the procuratorate, and the courts operate as a single apparatus, effectively eliminating any possibility of independent judicial recourse. I was placed under close surveillance, and any attempt to initiate legal proceedings would have immediately triggered further arrest, persecution, or even torture. In these circumstances, I was left with no option but to flee into exile on July 16, 2023.

My family has since been subjected to severe hardship and intimidation. My father, who is nearly 80 years old, has almost completely lost his eyesight. My son, a law-abiding university graduate, was collectively punished because of my human rights work. He was dismissed from his job, stripped of any means of livelihood, and barred from leaving China. The unrelenting social and political pressure imposed by the CCP has caused him profound psychological distress, placing his health and very life in imminent jeopardy. Such collective reprisals against innocent family members are indefensible under any international human rights standard.

These circumstances constitute grave violations of fundamental human rights, including arbitrary detention, collective punishment, and the illegal restriction of personal freedom.

The European Union, comprising more than twenty democratic nations, has always stood firmly for the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human dignity. I therefore respectfully and urgently urge you to:

+ Raise these urgent humanitarian concerns directly with the CCP during the upcoming high-level EU-China engagements, including any events commemorating the “50th anniversary of EU-China relations.”
+ Demand that the CCP cease the persecution of my family and allow my son to leave the country freely and safely before this unbearable pressure results in irreparable harm or loss of life.
+ Use all diplomatic means, including the possibility of targeted sanctions, to hold the CCP officials accountable for ongoing, systematic human rights abuses.

Under Xi Jinping, the CCP has not only failed to improve its human rights record but has intensified its authoritarian practices. The CCP's open and systematic violations have become more widespread and severe. If the EU refrains from taking resolute action to condemn and penalize these abuses, it will risk sending a signal of tacit approval to an increasingly repressive regime.

President von der Leyen, I appeal to your conscience and sense of justice, and to the European Union's core commitment to human dignity. My son's life and well-being are in grave danger. I implore you to act urgently to prevent another tragedy and to uphold the universal values that the European Union has always championed so resolutely.

Human rights must never be sacrificed for diplomatic ceremony or economic expedience. Silence would be complicity.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Lyu Zhanqiu
July 7, 2025