CAG Christian Zhao Qin was forced into hiding for 12 years to evade police pursuit. She fell ill but did not dare to seek medical treatment, leading to a worsening condition that ultimately resulted in her death.

Zhao Qin (pseudonym), born in 1971 in Yunnan Province, joined The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in 2008. On December 14, 2012, she was taken by the police from a gathering and held in custody for 50 days. After her release, police warned her family that every believer was under surveillance. They tried to turn her family against her, labeling her a “political criminal” and a “counter-revolutionary.” They demanded that her families monitor her, prevent her from practicing her faith, and timely report her interactions with those suspected of being believers. They even threatened that failure to comply would lead to charges of harboring criminals.

From then on, Zhao Qin faced relentless persecution, surveillance, and harassment from both her family and the police. Even praying at home was constrained. In 2013, to continue practicing her faith, she was forced to flee with her underage child, beginning a life on the run.

By January 2016, Zhao Qin learned that local village officials had frequently interrogated her family about her whereabouts over the past three years, warning her father to report her immediately if he found her. To avoid being found, she became even more cautious, constantly moving from place to place. In May 2017, she discovered that her household registration had been revoked.

Zhao Qin’s years of living in tension and fear, combined with homelessness and the burden of raising her young son without a stable income, left her in severe financial hardship. Unable to afford proper nutrition, her immune system weakened, and she frequently fell ill. Knowing that some fellow believers had been arrested and given harsh sentences after their personal information was exposed during hospital visits, Zhao Qin feared seeking medical check-up. With her household registration revoked, presenting an ID at a hospital would put her at immediate risk of arrest. As a result, she chose to endure her illnesses or rely on folk remedies.

In July 2023, she began experiencing severe fatigue, dizziness, bloating, and loss of appetite. This time, the illness was worse than previous ones, but she still did not dare to go to a hospital, only resorting to herbal treatments.

By August, her condition worsened—her abdomen was painfully swollen, and she could no longer sit or stand comfortably. A sister in frequent contact with her saw her condition and realized she needed urgent treatment. With the help of a hospital acquaintance, they took Zhao Qin for a check-up, risking her arrest. The results showed pleural effusion in both lungs and massive abdominal fluid buildup. However, the acquaintance was not a doctor and could not prescribe medication, so Zhao Qin left the hospital quickly out of fear.

On August 23, a fellow believer took her to a small clinic. The doctor suspected kidney failure and prescribed traditional Chinese medicine for conservative treatment. After about a week of medication, her abdominal swelling worsened, and she could no longer pass stool. The doctor warned that she needed an enema at a larger hospital immediately, or her life would be in danger.

Fearing arrest, Zhao Qin hesitated but realized that if she continued avoiding treatment, she would die in exile even if she wasn’t caught by the police. She made the difficult decision to return home to seek medical treatment.

By the time she arrived on September 29, she had been unable to eat for over a month. A hospital examination confirmed late-stage rectal cancer. The doctor said she had missed the optimal treatment window, and surgery was no longer possible.

On January 31, 2024, Zhao Qin passed away at just 52 years old due to the progression of her illness.

Her family reported that police visited multiple times to investigate her during the three months she was home receiving treatment. On January 16, 2024, while Zhao Qin was critically ill and hospitalized, officials from the village comprehensive management office still came to her home to track and investigate her.