Mr. Hu Jintao

President of the People’s Republic of China

Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Mr. Wen Jiabao

Premier of the State Council

Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

July 6, 2004

Dear President Hu and Premier Wen: 

On June 1, 2004, a vehicle of the No. 301 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army carried Dr. Jiang Yanyong and his wife Hua Zhongwei against their wills to an unknown location.  On June 3, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed at a news conference that their “whereabouts are unknown”.  On June 15, Hua Zhongwei returned home and confirmed that Dr. Jiang remains unfree and in arbitrary detainment.

For more than a month now, we and others have been looking forward to Dr. Jiang’s safe return home, expecting the Chinese government to correct its own mistake.  But reality has cruelly disappointed us, and therefore obliges us to raise our voices in protest.  We ask that you release Dr. Jiang Yanyong immediately, and restore his freedom with no further delay.

In 2003, when China was mired in the SARS crisis and the people’s lives and health were under severe threat, Minister of Health Zhang Wenkang lied to the Chinese public on television about the spread of the disease.  Dr. Jiang Yanyong, in contrast, stood up to tell the truth, sending emails to CCTV and Phoenix TV in Hong Kong and publishing a letter in Time magazine.  Not only Chinese people but people across Asia and throughout the world benefited from this honesty.  Even the new leadership of the Communist Party of China benefited.  Many people owe a debt to Dr. Jiang for his action on SARS.

On February 26, 2004, Dr. Jiang stood up for principle again, this timewriting to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.  Based on his duty as a citizen with a conscience, as well as on his duty as a member of the Communist Party of China to urge the Party to examine its mistakes, Dr. Jiang challenged the CCP to reveal the truth about the events of June 4, 1989 and to correct its interpretation of those events.  This was an appeal from the bottom of a citizen’s heart.  It not only expressed a common wish among the people, but also pointed up a division among the top leaders of the CCP regarding the June 4th events and the regrets among some of them about what happened.  Most of all, the letter showed anger and regret over the June 4th massacre in Dr. Jiang Yanyong himself, a CCP member with conscience.  Again he showed his deep concern for the people and the future of China.

Dr. Jiang’s protests have helped all of China.  His petitions to the nation’s top authorities have provided an opportunity for relaxing social conflicts, resolving accumulated rancor, easing political crises, and avoiding turmoil, thereby serving stability and progress in the country.  Dr. Jiang exemplifies the conscience of the Chinese people and the backbone of the Chinese nation.  His moral clarity will inspire the Chinese people in their long-suppressed pursuit of freedom and democracy.

It is regrettable that the Chinese government still follows the ancient tradition of punishing people for their words.  At a time when freedom of speech has been generally recognized as one of the basic human rights and a standard for evaluation of a country’s civilization, the Chinese government still makes no apologies for imprisoning people for what they say.  Dr. Jiang Yanyong was exercising a citizen’s right that is guaranteed in China’s constitution.  His membership in the military does not make his case an exception to the law.  The army has no license to violate the constitution.

When the two of you, President Hu and Premier Wen, assumed the reins of government, you said many pleasant things that led people to hope that you might offer China a “new deal”.  But in today’s China, censorship in speech, media and the Internet is the same as before, the operation of the secret police is the same as before, and corruption in government is the same as before.  Is this what you wanted?  Is this what you think the people want?

Please release Dr. Jiang and help to restore China’s honor.

Sincerely,                    

Signatures of  285  initiators