Jianli Yang - the Person I KnowXiaodan Wang It was a Friday morning of late spring and early summer, the drizzle out of the window showed no sign to stop. Sitting in front of my computer, I was combing the Web for any possible information on Jianli, who had been detained two weeks earlier in Kunming City, China - also on a Friday – and whose whereabouts remains unknown ever since. Many articles on the Web were devoted to the same issue and it was hard not to be touched after reading them. The event had drawn broad attention, with most people expressing support for Jianli. Faced with a big government of a big country, such a voice seemed weak, but nevertheless represented justice and integrity and thus carried great strength The public sees Jianli as a political figure. He is the president of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, boasts two doctoral degrees (one in mathematics from UC Berkeley and the other in political economy and government from Harvard), has presided over the publication of a collection of books entitled “China Series for the 21st Century,” and organized many symposiums to invite experts and scholars from all over the world to explore diversified topics. The foundation has also set up a Web-based forum “ChinaEweekly.com” as well as a radio station known as “Voice of China.” On many occasions, Jianli testified at US congressional hearings to provide his opinion on China’s human rights and the prospect for democracy. He has published many articles to condemn the dictatorial Chinese government and explore the plausibility of establishing constitutional governance and democracy in China. In the past two years or so, he organized an annual event known as “the Ethnic Young Leaders Camp” to promote mutual understanding and positive interaction among different ethnic groups in China so as to achieve harmony in ethnic relations. During the period of Tian An Men demonstrations in 1989, he risked his life returning to China to deliver donations to the students on hunger strike and was consequently put on the blacklist of 49 people closely watched by the Chinese government. Being regarded as a “saboteur,” he was forbidden to enter China. Indeed, Jianli is a political dissident who perseveres in the ideals of democracy and freedom and an activist who advocates peaceful and non-violent resistance. Even his name has a political overtone. As a personal friend of many years, however, I hope that people will be able to see the many other characteristics of Jianli – his integrity and conscience, the spiritual belief that guides his thinking and behavior, and the courage and moral strength with which he “sneaked” into China, an action viewed by many as politically motivated. When people saw with their own eyes the shining ideal of a nation reflected in one man’s action, what powerful moral encouragement would they feel! Perhaps this action would become a banner, urging more conscientious individuals to stand up against tyranny in defense of the people and turn China into a free and democratic country.
I first met Jianli twelve years ago, in the summer of 1990, on the campus of Ohio State University – a young man in a brightly red T-shirt giving an improvised speech. His wisdom, eloquence, and elegant manners won many rounds of applause. After the conference, my friend Jianan Wang introduced him to me, now appeared to be a different person, with a good-natured smile, even a little bit shy, like a “red-cloaked lad” who had just ventured into the world. “Red-cloaked lad” – that was exactly my first impression. In fact, he was only 27 at the time, but already had a Berkeley doctoral degree under his belt and was teaching math at a university in San Francisco. During the Christmas holidays the same year, we met again in South Pedre Island, where a group of friends had gathered to celebrate Christmas. Everyone was merry and happy, singing, dancing, and chatting away. A very good singer and dancer as well as a charming fellow in conversation, Jianli was like a fish in the water – frequently becoming the focus of attention. My husband, Jianping Shao, who had accompanied me to the gathering, became friends with Jianli immediately. During that one-week gathering, they spent a lot of time together, talking about many things of mutual interest. As the two men got to know each other better, their friendship also gained depth. They were born in the same year with only two months apart. Jianping was the highest-scoring candidate in Jiangxi province at the nation-wide university entrance examinations in 1979 and was admitted to the Department of Automation of Qinghua University (China’s MIT), while Jianli was admitted to Liao Cheng Teachers’ college in Shandong province at the age of fifteen and later to a graduate math program of Beijing Normal University at nineteen. Jianli came to the U.S. in 1986, soon earned his Ph.D., and became a math professor; Jianping came to the U.S. in 1985, gave up automation for finance, earned his Ph.D. in finance at Virginia Tech, and joined the faculty of the Department of Finance at Oklahoma City University. The similarities in background and experience brought them very close to each other, a friendship further strengthened by their ideas and insights – often seeing eye to eye on issues like the 1989 democracy movement, China’s political system, and the crises hidden behind a seemingly robust economy. After the gathering, Jianli returned to San Francisco and my husband and I went back to Oklahoma. Shortly after, we received a greeting card from him, which recalled the happy time we spent together, expressed his kind thoughts of us, and wished that he could have met Jianping earlier. Jianping certainly felt the same. After that meeting, he mentioned to me on several occasions “Jianli is one of the few talents of our generation!” During the next summer vacation (1992), Jianli told us that he might give up his teaching position to pursue another doctoral degree at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. Upon hearing this, I could not help feeling a little worried about him. In this country, university professorship provided financial security; to give up such a position in pursuit of a goal of uncertainty and relive a poor student’s life would seem to be sheer madness to ordinary people. However, I could sense from his tone that this was not an impulsive decision; on the contrary, he made up his mind only after long and careful thinking. When asked how he was going to make a living for the next four years, he said that he would dip into his moderate savings, and rely on the support of his wife, who used to be his classmate and at the time had also earned a Ph.D. in math. It should not be too difficult for her to find another job after relocation. As expected, Jianli received admission notice, together with a financial support offer, from Harvard before the end of the summer vacation. As a result, the family moved from San Francisco to Cambridge. Before the move, we had a short reunion at Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech. He told us that in deciding to go to Harvard, he was planning to receive adequate education in political science and acquire management skills in the political arena. He realized that, to effectively conduct pro-democracy activities, passion alone was not enough – he hoped that he would become well-grounded in polity.
In 1993, our friendship took a step further. My husband Jianping and I visited Cambridge and became acquainted with Jianli’s family. At that time, Jianli had not yet had any children, and his mother-in-law was suffering from late liver cancer. (Christina) Xiang Fu, Jianli’s wife, was a gentle and dutiful woman. She had kept the illness from her mother’s knowledge for fear that it would subject her to depression. For the several days we stayed with them in their two-story townhouse, we were overwhelmed with hospitality, enjoying the love and friendship of our host and hostess every day. Many a time Christina and I discussed in private her mother’s illness and we prayed for her again and again. It was from this visit that we learned that all the members in Jianli’s family were Christians, while Jianping and I had been baptized two years before. The common bond in Christ brought us even closer to one another. That visit left us with many beautiful memories. Unfortunately, only days after we got back to Oklahoma, word came that Christina’s mother had passed away. Jianli burst into a sob while he was on the phone with me. I tried to encourage him and asked him to do his best to comfort Christina and help her recover from the grief. A few days later, Jianli called to ask if they could come to Oklahoma for a short visit with us so as to help Christina get over her grief by staying away from home. At the time, he was very busy with both academic work and other activities and it must have been a big decision for him. To travel over one thousand miles from one of America’s biggest urban centers to the “wild west” where cowboys used to call home, Jianli obviously had great trust in us and that kind of trust was the best evidence of true friendship. We received them at our moderate home at Oak Spring. Summer was unbearably hot in Oklahoma, and yet the week we were together, every day felt like spring. During that week, Jianli and Jianping had a great deal of in-depth discussion on various issues, developing ideas for several articles which they co-authored later on, including “The Risky Orientation of China’s Economic Reform,” “Commercialization of Power: A Gap Caused by Two Types of Pressure,” and “An Evaluation of China’s Economy under Deng Xiaoping and A Forecast for the Post-Deng Era.” Jianping and I have known Jianli for twelve years and our friendship has been strengthening as time went by. Time and space have kept us apart, but love and trust grew with each passing day. For some time, Jianli tried hard to persuade us to join his family in Boston and work side by side for the noble cause of creating a bright future for China, but we ultimately decided to stay, partly because Jianping had no interest in political operations - although at the conceptual level he agreed with Jianli - partly because he had opened up in Oklahoma a world from which he found it hard to detach himself. We have always supported Jianli’s cause, but due to the geographical distance, what we could do to help was limited. The only comfort we had was that Jianli valued friendship above everything else, as he once said: “Whenever I think that you are there with me, it gives me a sense of certainty.” The purpose of this detailed account of our contact with Jianli is to let other friends know that although Jianli is a political figure, he is nevertheless a man who values friendship. In general, we tend to have a bias against political figures. Indeed, it is not easy for them to steer clear of the sort of mutual dependence and in fighting that characterize political activities, and prolonged exposure to corrupt practice could very well deprive one of one’s conscience with dishonesty and ruthlessness becoming second nature. Jianli, however, is definitely an exception. Over the years, we watched him grow and mature in his thinking and political operation, but his nature has not changed – always polite and tolerant, sometimes demonstrating rare wisdom and at other times passionate as a teenager. I know that such seemingly contradictory characteristics are not only a natural gift, but also a result of his belief in Jesus Christ – he strives to be a man of integrity, compassion, and near perfection, just as what the Bible teaches him to be.
Jianli’s belief in Christ once left me a very deep impression. It was at his moderate Boston home that we found out he was a Christian and the topic of conversation shifted to spiritual belief. Jianli felt deeply that Chinese intellectuals had been hurt by scientism. Out of blind worship of science, according to him, many intellectuals thought that science would be able to find out all truth, solve all the problems facing humanity, and even satisfy the emotional needs of individual human beings. Jianping also observed a phenomenon worth studying in the West where modern science was born and highly developed, most people believed that God existed and many relied on their belief to guide their behavior in everyday life; on the other hand, although the Chinese society had no tradition of science, the Chinese intellectuals, who possess no in-depth knowledge of science, regarded science as dogma and religion and used it to negate the existence of God. This attitude had not proven to be conducive to scientific development, but did prevent people from pursuing their religious belief. Both Jianli and Jianping believed that religion had originated from the emotional needs of human beings and a wise person would never confuse religious needs with superstition. But where did the wisdom of a wise person come from? Knowledge and learning were not equal to wisdom. Jianli is undoubtedly a person in pursuit of wisdom and his pursuit was based on a desire to know God, and it was this rock-solid will that cultivated his tolerant and loving personality as well as his guiding principle of being his own worst critic and working tirelessly towards perfection. It was also this will that made him choose firmly the path of peace and non-violent resistance in his unflinching fight against dictatorship. Over the past years, whenever Jianli wrote an article, he would send it to us for review. Occasionally, I would help him with some polishing. I have kept a huge pile of his manuscripts of which one article was written at mid-autumn of 2001. The article, entitled “Politics in Humanity and Humanity in Politics,” discussed the fact that many Chinese dissidents in exile were not allowed to return home and some were even barred from going back to see their dying parents or attending the funerals, which was the direct result of the inhuman policies of the Chinese government. However, Jianli found it hard to agree with some of his fellow democracy activists who believed that before the Chinese government changed its overall policy in regard to the return of dissidents, a return personally negotiated with the government, no matter based on what grounds, constituted a loss of integrity. Jianli believed that such an unreasonable criterion had put many friends in an ethical catch 22, making it impossible to reconcile the need to see loved ones and the demand to abide by a “high” ethical standard. In the article, he pointed out: “As democracy activists who take as our duty to establish a humane democratic system, we have to be on guard against the trend of suppressing ‘humanity’ with ‘revolutionary principles.’ As far as an individual’s integrity is concerned, whether to sign a pledge in order to gain the right to return to China is by far less important than seeing a dying parent.” Jianli noted that faced with a powerful dictatorship, it would take devotion and sacrifice to establish a democratic system, and that under certain circumstances, one even had to sacrifice the interests of loved ones. However, “all types of sacrifice have to be based on voluntary choice instead of deceit and coercion…for those friends who have chosen sacrifice, I have set up for them an eternal monument in my heart; for those friends who did not choose sacrifice (needless to say that they did not choose to hurt others, either), there will always be an echo of understanding from my heart.” Jianli himself has chosen sacrifice. He could have become a US citizen quite some time ago, but he kept his Chinese citizenship in order to “be in the right capacity” to promote democracy in China. Towards the end of the article, he wrote with great emotion: “It is my sincere hope that there will be a little more humanity in China’s politics and a little less politics in our humanity.” To my knowledge, such broad-mindedness and lofty thoughts have come from his Christian roots – to value individual lives, to show understanding for human weaknesses, to allow one’s love to go beyond the world of self and embrace all one’s fellow human beings, and to do to oneself what is not demanded from others.
I remember that it was in 1997 when China’s president Jiang Zemin visited the United States and Harvard University. Jianli with some of his schoolmates organized on campus a big demonstration, the biggest Harvard had ever seen since the 1960s when Americans held anti-Viet Nam War protests. The theme of the demonstration was improvement of China’s human rights situation. The demonstrators condemned the human rights violations committed by the Chinese communist government over half a century and denounced the “hog feeding rights theory” which the government created in defense of its practice of suppressing freedom of speech. Jianli pointed out “The type of ‘human rights theory’ that Jiang Zemin tried hard to sell in the U.S. regards Chinese people as a herd of domestic animals that only care about their feed and emphasizes that it is impossible to achieve ‘a full stomach’ and ‘right to speak’ at the same time. Jiang tries to convince Americans that Chinese are different and that they are not fit to enjoy unalienable rights. Such a stance, indeed, is a type of ‘racial discrimination’ committed by the Chinese government against its own people.” After the event, there were loud reactions, with numerous postings made on the Internet to denounce and slander Jianli. One day, he faxed me several pages of writings that consisted of nothing but personal attack directed at him. Some referred to him as “a pro-democracy dog,” wagging its tail in front of foreigners while trying to humiliate the leader of his own country; some others called him “traitor to the Chinese nation” and even changed his name to mean “foreign mercenary.” Worried that he might not be able to stand such huge waves of insult and slander, I asked him over the phone: “Do you care about it?” He said: “Not really, but I very much detest the style of such writings, which consisted of nothing but personal attack and cursing, without any rational discussion.” Thus we talked about the slavishness engrained in the Chinese character, the loneliness that typically accompanied pioneers, and the Bible story in which Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Jianli sighed: “Indeed, Moses answered the call of God to be the leader of Israelites and to lead them out of Egypt where they were enslaved to the beautiful land of Canaan that God prepared for them, but the Israelites, unable to endure the hardships of the journey, complained about and scolded him. As a pioneer, Moses was unable to reach Canaan, but he devoted his life to his mission.” “That’s right. The same is true of the situation facing us today,” I said, “God wants leaders to be born in our generation to lead the Chinese away from dictatorship to a free and democratic Canaan. Probably this task will fall on the shoulders of people like you. No matter what the result will be, what you can do is to obey the will of God and fulfil your mission. You do not have to be bothered by misunderstanding and slander. God’s justice will descend upon this world and future generations will provide an objective evaluation of our individual behavior.” Over the years, Jianli had run into great difficulties and been subjected to tremendous emotional pressure in his efforts to promote a democratic China. I believe that many of his fellow workers have had similar experiences. Faced with such difficulties and pressure, some have left the democracy movement to take an easier path of life, but Jianli has remained steadfast. He did not give up his original ideal of freedom and democracy; on the contrary, through constant exploration he has found the necessary means to achieve this ideal – peaceful and non-violent resistance. In the past two years, as part of his efforts to achieve democracy, Jianli organized an annual event - “the Ethnic Young Leaders Camp” to promote mutual understanding and resolve conflict among different ethnic groups in China. In his opening speech to the second camp, he specifically advanced the goal of “breaking the vicious cycle of violence.” Shortly before he took the risk to go back to China, he mentioned that non-violent resistance requires a large group of leaders who are not afraid of persecution and death. He accepted this responsibility and thus deserved a leader’s position. I fully agree with Mr. Yingchao Chen’s comment: “His [Jianli’s] heroism is exemplified in: between an easy life and hardship, he chose hardship; between personal interests within easy access and a conscience that no one will be aware of, he chose conscience; between risk of persecution and safe acquiescence, he chose risk.” These are indeed heroic qualities that befit a leader! Many people believe that overseas Chinese democracy movement is in a predicament, but Jianli has taken, with his open-mindedness and self-sacrifice, the first step towards breaking the barriers. I think that many friends within the democracy movement have already realized the value of such a step. To follow it and make new breakthroughs will require these friends to give priority to the interests of the overall movement, relinquish selfish motives and factional dogmas, become united once again in the pursuit of democracy and freedom, and take concrete actions.
Jianli’s arrest has brought deep grief and sufferings to his family. His mother is over seventy years old. On numerous sleepless nights, she would get up and listen for footsteps, checking at any slight noise to see if Jianli was back. She asked for the removal of a table by the door, saying that it would block Jianli’s way home. Jianli’s father is 92 years old. Worried about his fragility, the family had kept the truth from him, telling him that Jianli is out of town on business. Jianli has two children. His daughter is ten years old and was adopted last year from China; his son, who has not reached his seventh birthday, kept asking Mom: “Why is Daddy still not home? Was he taken away by bad guys? I want to play basketball with Daddy. I want Daddy! I want Daddy!” After Jianli’s arrest, the little boy stayed close to Mom all the time as if he were afraid that Mom, too, would suddenly disappear. Jianli’s two sisters have been overcome by anguish and anxiety and could hardly eat and sleep. But none suffers greater pain than his wife Christina. Not long ago, she took a flight to Beijing in the hope of visiting imprisoned Jianli, but her entry was blocked by Beijing border control personnel and was put on the same airplane to fly back to the U.S. despite that she held a valid US passport as well as a valid entry visa granted by the Chinese consulate. The border guards did not provide any reason for the rejection, merely telling her that they were executing “an order from the above.” At that moment, who could understand the misery, trauma, and sense of helplessness that she, as an ordinary woman, had to endure? Had Jianli Known how his family suffered because of his arrest, given his passionate love for them, how much more would he suffer in his turn! Now come to think of Jianli’s situation. Having lost freedom and being subjected to the ceaseless interrogation, threats, and coaxing by a whole bunch of so-called “law enforcement personnel,” how excruciating it would have been for him or anyone to go through such mental torment! I myself once experienced a three-day detention by the Chinese government. A few years ago, we learned from some news reports that more and more children in rural China had to stop school for not being able to pay the tuition and thus were deprived their right to education, while it would take only 100 US dollars to support a child through the fifth grade. As a result, a few fellow Christians and I set up “New Hope Foundation” with our own money, hoping that we would be able to continue to raise money to help those children. We made several remissions consecutively to the poor rural areas in the provinces of Jiangxi, Hubei, and Shandong so that some children could return to school. I was the one who executed the plan while Jianli served as the foundation’s chairman of the board. It hurt our hearts to think that some children in our native land could not go to school because of poverty. As a Chinese and a Christian, I felt called upon to render help. Normally, such good-intentioned behavior should be considered patriotic, but to my surprise, it was defined as “subversive activity” by the Chinese authorities, and several thousand US dollars of donation sent to Hubei was confiscated by local public security bureau. Their logic of reasoning: Jianli Yang was an anti-[communist] party element and therefore was anti-the people and anti-motherland; what good deeds could such a man do? Everything related to him must be aimed at subverting the government. As for myself, to help Yang Jianli was to be an accomplice in a crime! Consequently, in May of 1999, when I went back to China to see my parents, people from State Security Bureau detained me in Beijing. They took me to a place, which I later on learned to be known as “Hangzhou Cove,” put me in a room without a telephone, and cut all my communication channels with the outside world. Seven people, divided into three groups, questioned me throughout the night – all the questions were related to Jianli. They also repeatedly asked me what other activities New Hope Foundation had engaged in. The “exhaustion warfare” lasted several days and I gained first-hand knowledge of how ruthless the state machinery was. Recalling that experience and the fact that they regarded Jianli as a “source of peril,” I can’t help shuddering. For such enormous dictatorial machinery to destroy an individual would be like killing an ant. Fortunately, Jianli is not merely an individual; he represents the powerful tide of democracy, which is a source of immense moral strength. Thinking of this, the persecutors cannot just do whatever they want to. To a man who has lost freedom, however, every day is like a year. How long the dark nights would seem to be! My only hope is that our all-mighty God is with Jianli at this moment. “I pray to you, my Lord, to stretch out your all-powerful hand, to light up Jianli’s heart while he was kept in darkness, to keep alive his courage and hope, to give him wisdom, strength, and words of comfort, and enable him to undergo unharmed rounds and rounds of interrogation. I pray to you, my Lord, to bring to him warmth, comfort, and the loving thoughts of his family and friends, to take care of his health so that he will return safe and sound, and as high-spirited as he ever was!” By offering prayers like this, my heart gradually calmed down, and my belief in God has never been stronger.
“O Lord, our Lord, Oh, Jianli, our dear friend! At this moment, how I wish to read these Psalms to you to give you strength. I know that my Lord will hear the sighs and prayers in my heart and kindle your heart with the light of truth. You, too, please pray to God:
“Test me, O Lord, and try me, -------------------------- |