"In every heart, there is goodness, and there is knowledge of right and wrong. That is where our hope comes from.
Let me ask you, my dear friends. Let our eyes penetrate the danger of today to the light of hope of tomorrow.
Let us look beyond the freedom we enjoy outside China to envision the freedom in the future of China. I long for
the day when all of us are free; I long for the day when we can live together in peace." -- Yang Jianli
Yang Jianli, Tiananmen Square activist in 1989, came to the United States,
earned two Ph.D.s, and then founded the Foundation for China in the 21st
Century. Given his political activism, he was blacklisted by the Chinese who
also refused to renew his passport.
Jianli returned to China in April, 2002 on a friend's passport to view
labor unrest in the northeastern part of China. He was detained when trying
to board an internal flight. Since his initial detention, Jianli has been held
incommunicado by the Chinese in violation of their own and international
law. On July 14, 2003, Yang Jianli is indicted by the Chinese government on
charges of espionage and crossing the national border illegally. On May 13, 2004,
China sentenced Yang Jianli to five years in jail for illegally entering the
country and spying.
About Yang Jianli
Dr. Yang Jianli, male, born in Shandong, China
Earned his B.S. degree from the Department of Mathematics, Liaocheng Teacher's College in 1982
Earned his M.S. degree from the Department of Mathematics, Beijing Normal University in 1985
Earned his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley in 1991
Earned his Ph.D. degree from Harvard kennedy School of Govermment in 2001
Chair of Foundation for China in the 21st Century and President of ChinaEWeekly
The Communist government's refusal to give an official reason for the detainment is a violation of the PRC's own laws.
Michael E. Capuano:
His important work in human rights advocacy is widely recognized by the international community.
Barney Frank:
He is a hero to me and many, many other people, both in the Congress and outside
Julie Seavy:
He is an extremely ethical man and thoughtful scholar.
Livio Melfi:
I understand he is a really special person; people like that you can meet very few times in life.
Jay Nordlinger:
I knew, when I was with him - even though he was young and rather jolly - that I was in the presence of a great man. I said so, immediately, in my column. His cellmates - if he has cellmates - will sense his greatness too.
Wang Ce:
Hereby, we appeal to the Chinese government to stop violating basic human rights and persecuting of political dissidents. We appeal to the Chinese government to give back Dr. Yang's freedom immediately and issue a valid passport to him as ordinary Chinese citizens should have the right to hold.
Li Lu:
His writings and the various research projects he helped to establish will profoundly contribute to and influence the democratic process in China for years to come.
Song Yonhyi:
"A man wants to enter his own house to help his family members but a thief stole his key. He has to brook the window to get into the house. Unfortunately, the thief hire a corrupted policeman to arrested him as 'illegal enter' and put him in jail." Does any man/woman in the world have his/her basic right to enter his/her own houses? Who really brook the law: the thief or the man? How ridiculously the policeman did?
Everyone with common sense of justice will not difficult to figure them out.
Zhang Wei:
The Chinese government had no legal ground to deprive Jianli of his right to return to China, and Jianli resorted to the illegal way to defend his reasonable and legitimate rights.
