Pastor Cao Sanqiang Diagnosed with Late-Stage Prostate Cancer in April, Hopes Authorities Will Issue Him a Passport on Humanitarian Grounds So He Can Reunite with His Family in the U.S.
Pastor Cao Sanqiang said that in April of this year, he went to Xiangya Hospital of Central South University because of severe pain in his right foot. He was initially diagnosed with inflammation. After taking anti-inflammatory medication for more than ten days without improvement, he underwent an MRI and a biopsy and was diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer.
He subsequently underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy. His weight has dropped significantly, and he now needs a wheelchair when traveling longer distances. His treatment is currently on hold while he waits for his body to recover before undergoing further examinations.
He told the reporter:
“Because I am getting older, my body cannot tolerate the treatment very well, and it has caused serious side effects. I have lost a great deal of weight, and I can hardly walk now. If I need to go any significant distance, I have to use a wheelchair.”
Repeatedly Denied a Passport
Pastor Cao currently has no medical insurance and lives with his 90-year-old mother. His living and medical expenses are primarily covered by his mother’s pension and assistance from members of the church. His wife and son returned from the United States to Changsha in May and stayed with him for ten days, but later had to leave because of work.
He said:
“When I was hospitalized, the total cost was about 3,000 yuan per day. I stayed in the hospital for a month and spent nearly 100,000 yuan. So this has also been a very heavy financial burden for me.”
Pastor Cao previously received theological education in the United States and holds U.S. permanent resident status. In March 2017, while returning to Yunnan, China, from the Wa region of Myanmar through an unofficial border crossing, he was arrested and later sentenced by Chinese authorities to seven years in prison for “organizing others to illegally cross the national border.”
In 2019, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that his detention was arbitrary and related to his Christian faith.
On March 4, 2024, Pastor Cao was released after completing his full seven-year prison sentence. Since then, he has repeatedly visited the immigration and exit-entry administration authorities in Changsha to apply for a passport. Each time staff entered his name into the computer system, it immediately displayed a notice indicating that he was “prohibited from leaving the country.” No explanation has been provided regarding the reason for the exit ban or how long it will remain in effect.
He said:
“I specifically asked them, ‘If you are prohibiting me from leaving, how long will the restriction last?’ He said he didn’t know. So now I just have to keep going back and trying, right? I have to keep checking the system to see how long it intends to keep me here.”
Pastor Cao also submitted a handwritten application to the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau, explaining that he has cancer and faces the possibility of death at any time, and asking for permission to travel to the United States. Local public security officials told him that his application would be forwarded through the appropriate levels of authority. He later wrote directly to China’s Minister of Public Security to appeal for permission, but he has received no response.
RFA called the exit-entry administration department of the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau, but no one answered the calls.
Required to Report Travel and Followed by Three People
Pastor Cao said that even after his release from prison, he is still required to report in advance whenever he travels to another city. The authorities arrange for three people to travel to the same city. They stay at a separate hotel near where he is staying and meet with him for a meal every two days to confirm that he remains in the area.
He said:
“Every time I go somewhere, they send people to follow me. Over the past two years, I have traveled to quite a few places because I wanted to visit some brothers and sisters in the faith, and there have always been people following me.”
He has even told those assigned to follow him that if the authorities simply allowed him to leave China, the three people could do other work and the government could save the money being spent on monitoring him.
Reason and Duration of Exit Ban Remain Unknown
Asked whether the exit ban was related to his previous conviction, Pastor Cao said the authorities have never provided an explanation. When he asks officials about the reason, they often respond, “You know the reason yourself.”
He said:
“I really don’t understand why they won’t let me leave. There are simply so many people under exit bans in China—countless numbers of them. They don’t tell you the reason. If you ask, ‘Why won’t you let me leave the country?’ the usual answer is, ‘You know the reason yourself.’ That’s how they respond.”
Pastor Cao’s wife, two sons, and grandson are all U.S. citizens. His grandson was born in July 2025 and has never met his grandfather.
Speaking about his cancer and his family far away, Pastor Cao said:
“With cancer, if it spreads at any time, my life could be in danger. But I very much hope that I can be together with my family. If the time comes for me to meet God, as we Christians say, then being able to leave this world peacefully with my family beside me would also be a beautiful thing.”
Pastor Cao hopes that the U.S. government and the international community will intervene on his behalf. He cited the case of Pastor Jin Mingri of Beijing Zion Church, who was released in July and traveled to the United States to reunite with his family. Before Pastor Jin’s release, U.S. President Donald Trump had raised his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Pastor Cao hopes that the U.S. government will likewise raise his name with Chinese authorities and urge them to lift his exit restrictions and issue him a passport.
In August, the Texas-based ChinaAid Association launched a petition calling for Pastor Cao to be brought home. ChinaAid founder Bob Fu recently told the Taiwan Church News that Pastor Cao has already completed his prison sentence and is now battling late-stage cancer, making his situation a humanitarian crisis. He called on the Chinese government to lift the restrictions preventing Pastor Cao from leaving the country and allow him to return to the United States to receive care from his family.