BiographyDr. Yang JianliYang Jianli is the president of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century in Boston and a U.S. permanent resident. He was born in Shandong Province in China in July 1963. He holds a doctorate in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley (1991) and a doctorate in political economy and government from Harvard University (2001). His wife, Christina Fu, is a U.S. citizen and a researcher at Harvard Medical School. His two children, 10-year-old Anita and 7-year-old Aaron, are also U.S. citizens.Dr. Yang came to the United States in 1986 to pursue his first Ph.D. and returned to Beijing in 1989 to participate in the June 4th Tiananmen Square Uprising. After this searing experience, he decided to dedicate his life to the pro-democracy movement. He was elected chairman of the U.S. branch of the largest Chinese overseas pro-democracy organization, the Federation for a Democratic China, which was founded in Paris in October 1989. Since 1993, his efforts to renew his Chinese passport have failed. In 1994, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China revealed a Chinese government blacklist of 49 dissidents, including Dr. Yang, who were banned to re-enter China. Dr. Yang was one of the founders of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which was established in 1990, and his organization has been a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for Democracy since 1995. The Foundation produces “The Voice of China” radio program, and its Web magazine, ChinaEweekly.com, has more than 250,000 regular readers. Dr. Yang is also the editor in chief for the book series China in the 21st Century. In 1998, Dr. Yang became president of the Foundation, carrying on its legacy and expanding its involvement. Twice a year, Dr. Yang invited a wide range of experts and scholars from all over the world for in-depth discussions on issues such as the 30th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution; political parties, politics and the future of China; town elections and Chinese democratization; and globalization and the relationship between the Mainland and Taiwan. In the past two years, Dr. Yang also organized two Interethnic Leadership Conferences with young leaders from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Chinese ethnic minorities of Mongolians, Muslims, Tibetans and Uyghurs. Dr. Yang is not only a devoted activist, but also a leading scholar of Chinese democratic constitutional theory. In the mid-1990s, he helped create “the Draft of the Constitution for the Chinese Republic.” In addition, his numerous articles on the studies of Chinese democracy and politics were widely published. Dr. Yang advocates that the overseas Chinese democratic movement follow the principles of “returning to the homeland,” non-violence and democratic election. His ideas have been recognized around the world and are being embraced by his fellows inside and outside of China.
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