Praying for his return

Edward A. Brown

All Saints Parish hold vigil for Brookline resident imprisoned in China

Four years ago, on April 26, 2002, Brookline resident Yang Jianli was captured by Chinese authorities after entering the country on a friend's passport to research labor unrest in the country's northeastern region. He had been denied renewal of his own passport after appearing on a list of 49 Chinese pro-democracy activists in 1994.

Exactly four years later, a small group gathered in the tranquility of All Saints Parish on Beacon Street. As light is passed from one candle to the next, so too are the words "We share our light as we share our hope." Facing the group is a large poster with a photograph and text on a red background. It read "Free Yang Jianli."

"Every day is different, but sometimes there is just so much to do," said Yang's wife, Christina Fu, a few days later. "I feel very exhausted and [wish] my husband was here to talk to me, help me."

Last Wednesday marked the fourth anniversary of her husband's arrest, but Fu said she and their children, Aaron and Anita, are coping better as the release date gets nearer. "At first it was very hard, but now it is easier, we get used to everyday life."

Aaron, 10, found it particularly hard in the beginning. "When I went to China [a month after Yang's arrest] I didn't tell him I was going," said Fu. "I was stopped at the airport and sent back, but since then my son says 'take me wherever you go.'"

The couple adopted Anita, 13, only seven months before Yang's arrest. "Our daughter hadn't spent a lot of time with her father," said Fu. "But she writes to him every week and tells him what she is doing in school and in her life, so it is great."

Fu said the Brookline community has offered her tremendous support over the past four years. "They have always been supportive, especially our church," she said. "The parents of our children's friends at the Pierce and Driscoll schools have also helped us with letters, babysitting ... and my colleagues at Harvard Medical School have never made me feel pressured - they have been very understanding and supportive."

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-4th, said efforts to maintain pressure on the Chinese government had been stepped up during Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit. The House and Senate have passed resolutions calling for Yang's release, and a letter urging President Bush to bring up Yang's case with President Hu Jintao was sent before the pair met.

"We are trying as hard as we can," Frank said. "We don't know what was said personally between [presidents Bush and Hu Jintao] but we did get 119 members of Congress to sign the letter."

Jared Gensner, president of Freedom Now, an organization advocating for the release of prisoners of conscience, said that Yang's release is of high priority to the U.S. government. "We know a list of the top six prisoners of concern were presented to the [Chinese president Hu Jintao] including Yang," he said.

Gensner, who is also the family's attorney, said support for Yang's release has poured in from all over the world. "This has been going on for four years now, and there has been massive outpouring of support from around the world," he said. "The United Nations called for his release, the House, the Senate, members of the European parliament ... all expressing concern for Yang Jianli."

Yang is currently serving the fourth year of his five-year sentence, and Gensner was hopeful he would be released at the culmination of his sentence, if not before. "We are hopeful that being as he's served four of the five years of his sentence and given the persistence at our end that this case will be resolved soon," he said. "It is in the interest of the Chinese government to bring this case to a conclusion."

Fu said that she has been able to visit Yang only once since his arrest because of the varying conditions of his imprisonment and the difficulty in obtaining a visa to China - but his nephew and parents were able to see him recently. "They said he looks in good health," she said. "He can do exercise twice a week, can read books now."

At various points in his incarceration, Yang has been refused access to a lawyer, visits from his family and correspondence with the outside world. These rights were restored only in April of last year.

While Fu is careful not to let her hopes up, the fourth anniversary of her husband's arrest means that only one year out her husband's original five-year sentence remains. "Every week we are happier because it's closer to the date of his release."

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Source: "BrooklineTab".