Wang Zang: Several Opinions Regarding the “Drowning Death Incident” of His Nephew Wang Hao, Addressed to the Local Government of Guannan

Guannan County Government, Sankou Town Government, Sanhe Village Committee:

I am Wang Yuwen (pen name Wang Zang), male, Han Chinese, currently 41 years old, ID number: 532326198508121412. I am the maternal uncle-in-law of the deceased Wang Hao—that is, the husband of Wang Liqin and the brother-in-law of Wang Shaowei, the father of the deceased Wang Hao.

On March 12, 2023, my two-year-old nephew Wang Hao died in a small river near his home at No. 27, Group Five, Sanhe Village, Sankou Town, Guannan County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. Three years and four and a half months have passed since the incident, yet the local government officials and public security organs still have not produced a result in handling the incident that is acceptable to the people, nor have they given the family a just response to some of its demands. The family remains deeply troubled.

I hereby reiterate several demands and opinions of mine and my family:

I. The family has doubts about the cause of death and demands a reinvestigation into the truth

1. Local police came on the morning after the incident (March 13) and retrieved the surveillance footage, but said, “There was no way to see the location of the incident; it wasn’t captured there.” There was also one camera that could fully capture the location where my nephew had the accident, but the police casually said, “That video cannot be replayed.” Why were the public security officers so perfunctory?

2. Approximately five or six days after the child’s death, and only after international media had taken an interest, the Guannan public security authorities agreed to allow the deceased’s father, Wang Shaowei, to view the surveillance video—but what he viewed was not the complete surveillance video of the incident, merely a very short segment, and there was suspicion that it had been edited. Why did the public security authorities act in this way?

3. Three days before the child’s drowning incident, the local judicial bureau director, village Party secretary, and women’s director went to my mother-in-law Hou Shuzhen’s home and subjected her to various forms of intimidation and threats over the matter involving Wang Zang and Wang Liqin. Hou Shuzhen retorted, “That is a matter between my daughter and son-in-law—what does it have to do with me?” Why did the child’s misfortune occur immediately after this intimidation and threatening? What connection was there between them?

Because of these doubts, we request that the relevant departments attach importance to this matter and conduct a new and serious investigation into the truth of the incident.

II. The family demands that the relevant leaders be held accountable

1. Even if Wang Hao truly died in a drowning accident, the local village committee and government bear major responsibility that cannot be shirked: This river is a public body of water, and the village committee and relevant higher-level departments failed in their management. No warning signs or protective measures were installed across the long and broad area at and around the site of the incident, and there had reportedly been no drowning-prevention publicity for years.

2. At the very location in front of Wang Hao’s home where the incident resulting in his death occurred, the local village committee had previously specifically deepened the river channel. Why was it deepened? The village committee never gave any explanation either before or after the incident. Why was the area nearby not deepened, nor the river channel opposite, while the section directly in front of my mother-in-law Hou Shuzhen’s home—and specifically the side next to the house—was singled out for deepening?

3. What has made the family and everyone aware of this incident even more outraged and perplexed is that, without the oral or written consent of the guardian’s family, Pan Yujun, secretary of the Sanhe Village Committee in Sankou Town, personally buried Wang Hao’s body by force illegally and directed others to do so! Who gave him such arbitrary power? Even more unacceptable is that, to this day, he has not told the family where the body was buried! There is another fact that has provoked widespread outrage: After international media took an interest in and reported on the matter, Secretary Pan Yujun still directed the exhumation and transfer of the burial site without the family’s consent, without telling the family where the body had been buried!

According to my on-site inquiries, many villagers said that Secretary Pan Yujun had enormous influence, and that for years he had acted like a local despot and village tyrant, having the final say on all matters, big and small, including the distribution of subsistence allowances. I ask: Who is his protector? Just how powerful is his protector? I ask: Why do certain officials in Guannan County and Sankou Town act in such disregard of the law, with such audacity and impunity? What hidden, unmentionable secrets lie behind the local government’s failure to respect the basic human rights of the guardian’s family and its treatment of precious human life and the body as if they were mere weeds?

Whether before or after the incident, several local leaders bear responsibility that cannot be shirked or concealed, and are also suspected of such dereliction-of-duty and abuse-of-power offenses as official misconduct, as well as the crimes of theft, insulting, and intentionally damaging a body, human remains, or ashes.

III. The issue of death compensation

The relevant responsibility for the death of the two-year-old Wang Hao, as well as the government’s improper handling of the incident, caused the deceased’s family enormous and irreparable emotional harm and psychological trauma, and also created heavy financial pressure as a result of childcare and unresolved funeral-related matters. The author believes that this is a grave matter involving human life and a major issue concerning people’s livelihoods. The government bears a major responsibility to compensate and provide financial assistance to the deceased’s family, and must not cover up the matter, handle it carelessly, or simply let it disappear without resolution.

IV. If the local government does not give this serious consideration, we will pursue our rights to the end

Here, as a family member of the victim, I sincerely ask the local government to seriously consider the above opinions and give me and my family a lawful and reasonable response. If it continues to ignore us and deal with the matter perfunctorily, I will pursue the protection of our rights to the end through at least the following means:

1. Report the matter to the Lianyungang Municipal Government, the Jiangsu Provincial Government, and the provincial bureau for handling public petitions, and file complaints with the provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision and other departments, while requesting a thorough investigation and that those responsible be held accountable;

2. Truthfully expose and publicize in domestic and international online media the various injustices committed by the local government against my mother-in-law’s family over the years, subjecting them to public-opinion oversight;

3. Publicly report the officials involved under my real name and report the case to the judicial authorities; if necessary, I will hold banners demanding that the relevant leaders step down.

4. Form a civilian independent investigation team to investigate this incident and the local government’s related egregious conduct one by one, while livestreaming and making public to the world the process of pursuing rights in accordance with the law.

Signed: Wang Yuwen (Wang Zang)

July 27, 2026

Photo One: On July 27, Wang Zang with his mother-in-law and wife’s younger brother at the Guannan County Government

Photo Two: On July 27, after Wang Zang and his mother-in-law and wife’s younger brother submitted materials at the Guannan County Petitions Bureau

[About Wang Zang]

Wang Zang Wikipedia: zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/王藏

Wang Zang Baidu Baike: baike.baidu.com/item/王藏/2892461

[Appendix: Some international media reports on the death of Wang Zang’s nephew Wang Hao]

Radio Free Asia: Poet Wang Zang’s wife’s two-year-old nephew dies
Doubts over cause of death

www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/gf-03152023070654.html

New Tang Dynasty Television: Wang Zang’s two-year-old nephew mysteriously falls into river and dies; family had reportedly been threatened by Party officials beforehand

www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/03/13/a103668389.html/amp

The Epoch Times: Wang Zang’s wife’s younger brother’s two-year-old son mysteriously dies after falling into water
Family seeks truth without success

www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/3/14/n13949891.htm/amp

Apollonet News: Poet Wang Zang’s wife’s two-year-old nephew dies
Doubts over cause of death

www.aboluowang.com/amp/2023/0315/1877757.html