Yang Jianli
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| Hanyu Pinyin | Yáng Jiànlì |
Yang Jianli (b. Shandong, China, 1963) is a Chinese dissident with United States residency, who was detained and imprisoned on a visit to China in 2002.
Yang, a Tiananmen Square activist in 1989, came to the United States, earned two Ph.D.s (Ph.D., Political Economy, Harvard University and Ph.D. Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley), and then founded the Foundation for China in the 21st Century. Given his political activism, he was blacklisted by the government of the People's Republic of China, who also refused to renew his passport.
Yang returned to China in April 2002 on a friend's passport to view labor unrest in northeast China. He was detained when trying to board a domestic flight, and held incommunicado by the Chinese in violation of their own and international law. His wife and children, as well as his extended family, were denied access and were concerned for his health and safety while he was in prison. The advocacy group Freedom Now took up his case.
On May 28, 2003, United Nations working group on arbitrary detention ruled that Yang Jianli has been held by the Chinese government in violation of international law. Same year June 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res.199 by 412-0 and the U.S. Senate introduced S.Res.184.
On August 4, 2003, the United States called on China to free Yang. "We've raised the case repeatedly with senior Chinese officials, and we urge that Dr Yang be released and allowed to return to his family here in the United States," US State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said.
On December 8, 2003, a letter from Harvard University Law School with 29 faculty signatures were sent to Wen Jiabao via Chinese Embassy via FedEx. Two days later, Another letter from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and Medical School with 78 faculty signatures were sent to Wen Jiabao via Chinese Embassy via FedEx.
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