The Statement of The Foundation for China in the 21st Century on the Detention of President Yang Jianli by the Chinese Government Dr. Yang Jianli, the President of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, went back to China without the permission of the Chinese Government after being illegally deprived his civil and political right to enter his own country for over 13 years by the Chinese Government. He went back to China in order to exercise his right to return to his home country and to further the academic exchanges between Chinese scholars living within and without China. He is reported to be in detention by the Chinese authorities in Kuming City of Yunan Province. According to the United Nations' "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" ratified by the Chinese Government, "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country" (Article 12, Item 4). The action of depriving its citizens' right to enter the country by the Chinese Government violates the International Covenants and Customs and violates the civil and political rights of those citizens affected. Therefore, it is illegal. Dr. Yang Jianli is the citizen of the People's Republic of China and is fully and naturally entitled to his right to enter his own country. But his repeated applications to enter China over last 13 years were always rejected by the Chinese Government. He could not go back to his own country legally. It is widely reported that he is on the infamous backlist of 49 Chinese citizens who are bared from returning to China. As a protest to the Chinese Government for depriving his civil and political right to enter China, Mr. Yang Jianli did not apply for permission to return to China this time and entered China secretly. He chose to enter China without the Chinese Government's permission because he could not have obtained the permission. This is the only way to exercise his internationally sanctified right to enter his own country. It has to be pointed out that the Chinese Government violated the International Covenants and the Constitution of the People's Republic of China long before Mr. Yang Jianli's entry to China without legal permission. Without the illegal action of the Chinese Government's depriving its own citizens' right to return home, there would have had no violation of the rule of entry into China with legal documents by Mr. Yang Jianli. The Chinese Government's illegal action caused the "illegal action" of Mr. Yang Jianli. Mr. Yang Jianli has two Ph.D. degrees, one in Mathematics from the University of California in Berkeley and one in Political Economy from the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. As an advocate of using "Public, Legal, and Non-violence" means to promote Democracy and Constitutional Rule of Law in China, he established the Foundation for China in the 21st Century whose mission is to further academic exchanges and dialogues between Chinese scholars in and out of China. Over the years, he has organized many conferences, which are attended by Chinese scholars from all over the world. Those conferences cover themes in the following areas: Constitutional Rule of Law in China, Party Politics, Village Elections, Relations Between Nationalities of China, Globalization, and Educational Reforms. Those conferences and other activities of Dr. Yang Jianli made contributions to the thinking on China's economic freedom and political democratization. In recent years, Chinese Government has repeatedly stated to welcome oversea Chinese scholars and students to go back to China. It also promises to grant them the freedom to enter China and leave China at their own will. Those statement and pledges are well publicized. Dr. Yang Jianli went to China because he was willing to help in the economic and political development of China. Here, we sincerely ask the Chinese Government to honor its own promises and demonstrate its sincerities of those statements by granting Dr. Yang Jianli retrospectively all the necessary documents for entering China legally. If the Chinese Government does not have the moral coverage to follow this course of action, we appeal to the Chinese Government to allow Dr. Yang Jianli to leave China without unnecessary delay and return to his residence in the United States of America. -------------------------- |
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