According to the LA Times article (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-die20may20,1,5090237.story), it is not cancer, but rather muscular dystrophy, which seems to change matters quite a bit ethically. Reporting it as cancer seems to be a mistranlation or perhaps even an attempt to gain sympathy.

the euthanasia issue in china is covering other kind of problems, and treating it like we do in the west i think is not suiteble.
here in china is not just a moral choice of a single individual, is not include only moral debate, even if the moral debate is foundamental.
i reckon the euthanasia problem is like the peak of an iceberg, under the water:
health care issue: in china most of the population cannot afford to buy medicine, so in some cases the poeple prefer to die insted to bring all the family in bankrupt.
phisician and patient relationship: the euthanasia is in theory built also on a trustfull reletionship between the doctor and the patient, but in china this kind of relation is besad on suspicious and distrust.
the importance of the family: the euthanasia choice have to belong to the single individual, is a personal choice. In china the role of the family could affect the choice of the patient.

Many scholar in china are debating on bioethical issue, with a real open point of view.
who's interested on these issues:

邱仁宗，生命伦理学的概念2003
翟晓梅，死亡的尊严2002
丛亚丽，Regional prospective on bioethics，2004

If the Chinese government, as with all governments, has the right to take life in cases of death penalty, the government of China (and the rest of the world, including the United States) should also seriously consider taking the moral responsibility of permitting euthanasia for people who are in constant pain and misery, and yet have no rational hopes of getting better. We all have the right to live and die in dignity: Li and the others qualified for euthanasia can choose the option to die from hunger strike or other ways, anyhow.