Letter from Visual Artists Guild to President Bush

Visual Artists Guild

August 21, 2003

President George W. Bush
The Whitehouse
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Honorable Mr. President Bush:

I am writing to express my grave concern about the criminal accusation in the Peoples Republic of China against Dr. Yang Jianli, who was arrested in April, 2002 and tried on August 4th, 2003 in Beijing. At this critical moment while Dr. Yang is expecting a verdict in a few weeks, I am asking that you immediate express your consternation at the possible conviction and continued imprisonment of Dr. Yang.

Dr. Yang is an internationally renowned scholar and a long-time U. S. permanent resident who makes his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. In addition to his wife, his young children who are all American Citizens, Dr. Yang's elderly parents and two sisters also live here in the U.S. He is the president of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which seeks to promote democratic practices in that country.

Both the Senate and the House have recently unanimously passed resolutions, S.R.184 and H.R.199, which condemn and deplore the lengthy incommunicado detention of Dr. Yang and the lack of due process afforded to him. Both the Senate and the House have called for his immediate and unconditional release by the government of PRC.

The U.S. Embassy and the United Nations were denied having an observer attend the proceeding of Dr. Yang’s trial - this despite the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention having recently determined that Dr. Yang's confinement violates minimum international human-rights standards.

Dr. Yang, a Harvard Ph.D. in government and a UC Berkeley Ph.D. in mathematics, represents the best of what the founding principle of America is all about – the yearning for democracy and freedom for all men.

Mr. President, your statement in support of Dr. Yang will do much in pushing one step forward in securing Dr. Yang’s release.

Sincerely,

Ann Lau
Chair, Visual Artists Guild

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Source: "yangjianli.com".