Letter from Yang Jianli Support Group to President BushYang Jianli Support Group August 12, 2003
President George W. Bush Dear Honorable Mr. President George Bush: We are a group of 326 people all over the world led by Christina Fu, Dr. Yang Jianli’s wife and we organized together voluntarily to help free Dr. Yang Jianli. We are writing to express our grave concern about the criminal accusation in China against Dr. Yang Jianli, who was arrested in April, 2002 and just put on trial on August 4th, 2003 in Beijing. We understand that Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor, has repeatedly expressed her concern and kept Dr. Yang's supporters informed of the high level contacts made by the U.S. government with the Chinese officials in the past year with regard to Dr. Yang's case. At this critical moment while Dr. Yang is expecting a verdict in a few weeks, We are writing to you again, Mr. President, and would like to request your immediate intervention of the possible conviction and imprisonment of Dr. Yang. As you know, Dr. Yang is an internationally renowned scholar and a long-time United States 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. You may have noticed that both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have recently unanimously passed resolutions, S.R.184 and H.R.199 that condemn and deplore the lengthy incommunicado detention of Dr. Yang Jianli 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 Chinese government. Mr. President, last week, Dr. Yang was put on a closed-door trial in Beijing on criminal charges of illegal return to China and spying for Taiwan. No member of the public, the press or even Dr. Yang's family, friends, or foreign legal advisers were permitted to attend the trial. The U.S. Embassy and the United Nations were also denied having an observer attend the proceeding - this despite the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention having recently determined that Dr. Yang's confinement violates minimum international human-rights standards. Mr. President, We respectfully urge you to take whatever action you can under your power, to assist in facilitating Dr. Yang's immediate and unconditional release. Thank you for your attention to this very urgent matter. Sincerely,
Yang Jianli Support Group -------------------------- |