Yang Jianli (born

Lanling County Lanling County () formerly Cangshan County () is a county of southern Shandong province, bordering Jiangsu province to the south. It is under the administration of Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, ...

Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo to ...

, southern

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China, August 15, 1963) is a

Chinese dissident This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include Wei Hui and Jia ...

with a United States residency. He is the son of a Communist Party leader. Yang was detained in China in 2002 and was released in 2007. He now lives in the United States, where he is a human rights activist.

Activism

Yang, a Tiananmen Square activist in 1989, came to the United States, earned two Ph.D.s (Ph.D.,

Political Economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Ph.D.

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

), and then founded the ''Foundation for China in the 21st Century''. He was blacklisted by the government of the People's Republic of China, which also refused to renew his passport, because of his political activism.

Imprisonment

Yang returned to China in April 2002 on a friend's passport to view labor unrest in northeast China. He was detained when trying to board a domestic flight, and held incommunicado by the Chinese in violation of their own and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. His wife and children, as well as his extended family, were denied access and were concerned for his health and safety while he was in prison. The advocacy group Freedom Now took up his case. On May 28, 2003, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

working group on arbitrary detention ruled that Yang Jianli had been held by the Chinese government in violation of international law. On June 25, the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

unanimously passed H.Res.199 and the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

introduced S.Res.184. On August 4, 2003, the United States called on China to free Yang. "We've raised the case repeatedly with senior Chinese officials, and we urge that Dr. Yang be released and allowed to return to his family here in the United States,"

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

deputy spokesman

Philip Reeker Philip Thomas Reeker (born January 19, 1965) is an American diplomat and career foreign service officer with the United States Department of State, Department of State who currently serves as the senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations. He was p ...

said.

Petitioning by lawmakers and academics

On December 8, 2003, a letter from

Harvard University Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

with 29 faculty signatures was sent via FedEx to

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...

through the Chinese Embassy. Two days later, letters from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and

Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

with 78 faculty signatures were sent to Wen Jiabao via the same methods. On April 26, 2004, members of Congress held a press conference to commemorate the second anniversary of Yang's detention. 67 legislators issued a warning in a letter to Hu as they marked the second year in detention of Yang Jianli. Citing Vice President Dick Cheney, Republican Party lawmaker

Christopher Cox Charles Christopher Cox (born October 16, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a 17-year Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, and member of t ...

said meanwhile that the US embassy in Beijing spoke directly with the Chinese government about Yang's case. On May 13, 2004, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court returned a guilty verdict and sentenced Yang to five years in prison for

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

and

illegal entry Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law. Human smuggling is the practice of aiding people in crossing international borders for financial gain, often in ...

. A few months later, on October 6, 21 U.S. senators and 85 U.S. representatives wrote a petition to

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

to grant Yang parole. On June 15, 2005, a bipartisan group of 40 U.S. senators (including

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013 and again in 2018. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, ser ...

Barbara Mikulski Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Repr ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

, and

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

) sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging Yang's release. On April 10, 2006, 119 US lawmakers urged Bush to raise Yang Jianli's case. Later, on September 3, Yang Jianli was released on the condition that he leave China immediately. However, Yang first insisted on returning to his hometown to sweep his father's tomb. As a result, he was once again imprisoned while at the airport.

Return to the United States

On April 27, 2007, Yang was released from Chinese prison but was not allowed to leave China. Later, on August 19, he was finally allowed to return to the United States. Reminded of his experience with the June 4,

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and democracy, Yang's recent article in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' shortly after his return to the United States reflects his vivid observation of the

2007 Burmese anti-government protests The Saffron Revolution ( my, ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The pro ...

, spiritually coined as

Saffron Revolution The Saffron Revolution ( my, ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The pro ...

, including China's 'parasitic relationship with Burma' and the genuine will of freedom-loving intellectuals around the world condemning the current brutal oppressions in Burma. In March 2016, together with Fang Zheng and Zhou Fengsuo, Yang published an op-ed in ''The Washington Post'' protesting Donald Trump's characterization of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as the act of a "strong, powerful government". He has been a guest speaker at the

Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is an annual human rights summit sponsored by a coalition of 20 non-governmental organizations. Each year, on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council's main annual session, activists from a ...

on several occasions, and is the founder of the NGO, ''Initiatives for China'', a US-based organisation dedicated to working for a peaceful transition to democracy in China. He also established the ''Foundation for China in the 21st Century''. In 2016, he organised an Interfaith Conference of China's ethnic and religious minorities in

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

, India, which is home to the Dalai Lama's residence and the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government in exile). The conference has brought together representatives of the Uyghurs, Mongolians, Christians, Falun Gong; and the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. In June 2016, Yang organised an event in Washington D.C. to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in China. Its technical systems were hacked, so that some participants in other countries could not fully communicate. In March 2018, Yang was invited to speak by the advocacy group UN Watch at the UN Human Rights Council but Chinese diplomat Chen Cheng repeatedly interrupted in a failed attempt to halt the address. In his talk, Yang questioned the Chinese Communist Party's right to represent China at the United Nations and criticized its human rights abuses. In 2020, Yang applied for United States citizenship but was rejected due to his former membership in the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

. In response, Yang sued the federal government, which agreed to make him eligible to apply for citizenship again in four years. Yang is a primary target of the Chinese government's disinformation networks.

References

External links