Background on Dr. Yang, Jianli

Dr. Yang, Jianli is the Chairman of the Boston-based Foundation for China in the 21st Century, a non-profit think tank that promotes constitutional democracy for China, and a well-known leader in the Chinese Democracy movement.

Dr. Yang holds a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from UC Berkeley (1991) and a Ph.D. in Political Economy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government (2001).

As a veteran of the Tiananmen Square movement and June 4, 1989, Beijing, Dr. Yang responded to the concerns of the United States Congress on a variety of issues by testifying and giving his eyewitness accounts many times. He is one of 49 prominent dissidents blacklisted by the Chinese government.

As a scholar and an intellectual dissident, Dr. Yang has published numerous works all aimed at achieving an open, free, and democratic China under the constitutional rule of law. His work has covered issues such as multi-ethnic co-existence and constitutional democracy in China.

Dr. Yang is a Chinese citizen with US permanent residency. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.

Dr. Yang was detained in China by the People’s Republic of China on April 26, 2002 and his family, friends and colleagues are seeking his release and return home.

For more details on Dr. Yang, Jianli and the Foundation, please visit http://www.chinaEweekly.com