My View on Jianli’s Detention

Upon returning from my business trip, I heard that Jianli was arrested, and I called Fu Xiang, Jianli’s wife, whom I had not contacted for years. She sounded extremely worried at the other end of the phone. I could understand her very well, because I had been “under supervision” for two years after 1989, and therefore I know profoundly how the family members and relatives felt under such circumstances. However, I know equally well what kind of people the government officials are, and so it is of no use to just worry. With a few words of comfort, I hung up, painfully depressed.

Jianli and I entered Harvard in the same year. I had a lot of pressure and stress. Jianli, however, seemed very comfortable with his study because of his solid English foundation. He often helped me academically. His family and mine even became good friends, since we were neighbors, living in the same house on different floors for one year. Later, I came to Oxford, and we saw each other only two to three times over eight whole years, and each of which was short. But I am very clear of his view on Chinese affairs, and we think likewise.

Now, Jianli lost his freedom and under arrest, and there is a myriad of different comments and opinions. So, as his friend, I could not help offering my view of this arrest.

People mostly revolve on the nature of the incident. For me, it is not hard to clarify. The Chinese government had no legal ground to deprive Jianli of his right to return to China, and Jianli resorted to the illegal way to defend his reasonable and legitimate rights. This sounded awkward, and unbelievable, but was what really happened.

I consulted repeatedly the Chinese constitution and relevant laws, and found no specific clause that allows the government to refuse its citizen to return to his country. If “Jianli and his colleagues” are law-abiding citizens, the government certainly has no reason to deny their entry to China. Even if they break the Chinese law, the Chinese legal agencies should prosecute them according to the due law and procedure, but how can the government forcefully take away their right to return?

I also know that the Chinese government is a signatory of the human rights proclamation of the United Nations. The second item under the 13th clause says that everybody has the right to leave any country, including his native country, and the right to return to his own country. The first item under the 15th clause reads that everyone is endowed with the citizenship, and the second item under the same clause stipulates that no one has the right to deprive others’ citizenship. Against such clauses, it is absolutely obvious that the Chinese government deprived Jianli of his basic human right, the right that is universally recognized and respected. Such are the facts of the incident.

Did Jianli break the law to return to China with the false passport? Certainly yes. But it is the Chinese government that broke the law first, and Jianli the second. The Chinese government both broke the law and was unreasonable, while Jianli broke the law, but was perfectly reasonable. Let’s put aside right and wrong, and talk about law only. Proceeding from the principle that everybody is equal before the law, it seems to me that the Chinese court should send a subpoena to the Chinese government first. Of course, I do not want to see a situation where neither side wants to make a compromise. Instead, I want to see a favorable solution to this problem: The Chinese government will no longer deny its citizens’ right to return, and the overseas Chinese return to China with legal passports; Jianli could immediately go back to Boston to be with his family. For all this to happen, I am afraid that the Chinese government should initiate the first step.

I know that somebody would dismiss me as a geek and as too arrogant to cite legal codes to illustrate the obvious ideas. I absolutely know who I am, a powerless individual, and the Chinese government has tremendous organizational resources, and currently feels self-important! It is said that the government thinks nothing of the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe, and believes that it is the leader of the new century! The reason that I talk about this is that Jianli is my friend who is currently under arrest and cannot argue for himself. If I keep quiet and do not speak for him, as a friend, I will feel guilty.

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Source: "ChinaEWeekly".