Yang Jianli’s speech at the Reception Honoring Him at Massachusetts State House Held by State Senate and State House of RepresentativesApril 1, 2008
Good afternoon. First, I want to thank each and every speaker of today for their very kind words, and, more than this, for their persistent efforts to get me released when I was a political prisoner in China. I also want to thank State Representative Frank Smizik and State Senator Cindy Creem for holding this wonderful celebration of freedom at the State House for me and my family, and, in a symbolic sense, for all the Chinese people who do not yet enjoy freedom that is their right, just as it is the right of every citizen of the world. Many American people and organizations came to my aid while I was imprisoned: from my neighbors in Brookline to the national leaders in Washington DC, from my son’s and daughter’s elementary schools to Harvard University, from grassroots rights groups to the U.S. Congress, from personal friends to compassionate strangers, from lawyers to journalists, from my Christian brothers and sisters in Massachusetts to American diplomats in Beijing …… It is impossible to thank them one by one and I cannot thank any of them enough. If it weren’t for these dedicated Americans, I would not be standing here, a free man, and for that, I offer you my deepest and most humble gratitude for all the support you have given me and my family during the very dark days of my five years in prison. With my heart so full of gratitude for my adopted country, the United States of America, I’ve often reflected on what would have happened had I gone to another country to further my studies instead. When I went back to China in 2002, and was detained without due process and then sentenced to five years as a political prisoner, where would I be now? I’m certain that, after hearing from my wife Christina, my second country would have taken an interest in my plight, and would have done everything it could have to get me safely released. Yet, would everything it could have done have been enough? Or might I still be languishing in prison, along with countless others, my health failing, as one’s health tends to fail in Chinese prisons.?Would I be on my way to dying in prison? The truth is that this great country, The United States of America—my adopted country—might well be the only country in the world with both the moral conscience AND the political strength to have been able to get me safely home. It is said that with power, comes responsibility; with great power comes great responsibility. This great country, the United States of America, must continue to demand that the Chinese Government stop repressing its citizens. And what better opportunity could there be than in the time leading up to the Olympics in Beijing? You might be aware that this is China’s second attempt to win the coveted role of Olympic host. Its first attempt in 1991, in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre, was denied. Ten years later, with the harrowing cries of the victims of Tiananmen faded and almost forgotten, its second attempt was successful. But I stand here today knowing that there are still thousands of smaller Tiananmen Squares all over China. And I stand here today, knowing that the Chinese Olympic slogan—“One World, One Dream”—is the furthest thing from the truth in China. For I dare say that the Chinese government’s dream is not the same as the dream of Mr. Hu Jia’s activist wife Zeng Jinyan and their three-month-old daughter, who have now been under house arrest for more than 200 days. If convicted, Hu Jia will join Olympic dissidents including Yang Chunlin who was last week sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in a petition: “We Want Human Rights, Not the Olympics,” signed by farmers protesting land seizures; nor is it the same dream as the dream of Ye Guozhou, who is serving a four-year prison sentence for organizing protests against Olympics-related forced evictions; and Wang Ling, sentenced to 15 months of “re-education” in November 2007 for opposing demolition of her property for an Olympics-related project—does she and the Chinese government share the same dream? The list goes on.? Think of Chen Guangcheng, the blind rural activist from my hometown, who was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for his exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in eastern China. Or Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who was abducted in Vietnam by Chinese secret agents, and held secretly for six months before his arrest was even announced, and later sentenced to life in prison. Think of the Tibetan monks, with unknown numbers of them slaughtered just last month. What is their dream?? Think of Falungong practitioners. Think of underground house church members. What is their dream? Is it the “one dream” of the Chinese government? No. That is not their dream. It is their nightmare. “One World, One Nightmare,” might be the more appropriate slogan for the Chinese people whose thirst for basic human rights and dignity is akin to a barren parched desert where it never rains. I lived in this nightmare for five years in prison. And when I called out to my God in prayer, I was beaten down by the guards. But now I stand before you, fully awakened from my nightmare—a free man in a free country—with a heart so full of gratitude that I fear it might burst. How can I ever express this thanksgiving for all the support and hard work that you and so many other Americans gave so generously to help me be released? How can one say thank-you for one’s life and liberty using only words, when words, no matter how lovely or sincere, no matter how often repeated, could never be enough? No, I must say thank you in such a way that you will know it comes right from my heart. In February of this year, I founded “Initiatives for China,” GongMinLiLiang in Chinese which means “citizen power”. We are dedicated to empowering the citizens of China by sowing the seeds of hope and giving voice to their struggles for initiating a peaceful transition to a democratic China. We are now busy at work on a daily basis, with an electric energy surging through our staff and volunteers. Some may say we are engaging in dreams that will never come to fruition, but I like to think that everyday we are throwing a little more tea in the harbor. You may have noticed this small blue and yellow ribbon that I am wearing on my lapel. We are introducing this ribbon today as a symbol for the great need for human rights in China. Yellow is the color of my homeland and the yellow part is shaped in the Chinese character “Ren,” which means “human.” Blue is for the open sky. The ribbon is in the shape of an English “R” standing for “rights.” This ribbon says “the Chinese people, under the blue sky of Creation, are entitled to human rights.” I ask that you join with us in wearing this ribbon to make clear to the Chinese government that they must stop repressing their citizens. I am most pleased to be here in Boston today as I announce Initiatives for China’s first major action. This May 4, I will walk 500 miles to Washington DC to thank America for all you have done for me, and to remember those still imprisoned in China. We are calling this walk “GongMin” which means “Citizen and citizen power.” My presence here today is testimony to the power of free citizens speaking freely in a free country. It is this citizen power that will keep the hopes of the Chinese people alive, and ultimately bring about a peaceful transition to a democratic China. My journey will commence here in Boston, and I will walk through Wellesley, Providence, New Haven, Bridgeport, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. On June 4, the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, I will conclude my journey in Washington DC. Along the way, I will speak out on the human rights situation in China, and I will make the critical call for continued moral leadership from the United States. I will speak out on land grabbing, and on Tibet, Darfur, on political prisoners, and I will speak about the need for conditional participation in the upcoming Olympics. Once again, I find myself humbly asking for your generous support with this vast endeavor. I will be posting my route and whereabouts online and welcome you to join with me in my journey on www.helloworld.com/gongminwalk. The address is printed in today’s program leaflet. We will broadcast the walk LIVE every day, and I encourage you to talk about my walk, to blog about it, to message me, to spread the word, to share some miles with me. Yes, it will take much help and support and the power of the free citizens in America for me to complete this GongMin—Citizen —Walk. This event today is also being broadcast live all over the world on HelloWorld. I am told it will even be broadcast in China, if it can make it through the great fire wall of the Chinese internet police, so I’d like to take a minute to say something to all of my Chinese compatriots right now. 亲爱的同胞们：我将于五月四日开始徒步行走，六月四日抵达华盛顿，这个徒步行活动叫做“公民行----从五四到六四”。我坚信，中国的希望在于公民精神的觉醒和公民力量的成长。亲爱的同胞们，让我们：不做恶官，不做暴政的帮凶，不做奴隶也不做暴民。我们要做公民。中国将由于公民精神的觉醒而文明，中国将由于公民力量的成长而民主，中国将由于成为公民社会而成为真正伟大的国度。 (In addition to introducing GongMin Walk, I said to them: My dear fellow compatriots, I believe that our country’s hope lies in awakening of Citizen Spirit and growth of Citizen Power. Let us not be accomplice of the tyranny, let us not be slaves nor mobs, let us be citizens. China will be civilized with the awakening of Citizen Spirit, China will be democratized with the growth of Citizen Power and China will be a truly great nation when our society becomes a civil society.) Now, knowing a little about math has helped me figure how many steps my 500 mile journey will add up to, and, averaging my stride at 22.5 inches, I calculate that I will walk 1,408,000 steps. Yes, I will walk 1,408,000 steps as a free man, with a heart full of gratitude for my wonderful adopted country, the United States of America, and a soul full of hope for a better future in China, my homeland. I thank you all so very much. -------------------------- |