IFCSS Appeals to the Chinese Government for Releasing Dr. Yang Jianli

April 30, 2002

Last Saturday, Dr. Yang Jianli, a Chinese scholar residing in the United States, was detained by the Chinese authorities during his academic trip back to China. He has not been heard from ever since, and his whereabouts remains unclear as of today. This incident has caused tremendous shock in the communities of Chinese students and scholars residing in the US as well as in the Chinese Americans communities here in the US. Dr. Yang is one of the founders of the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in the US (IFCSS) and a member of its first term council. And he remains a member of IFCSS as of today. IFCSS therefore is deeply concerned with the development of his case. IFCSS appeals to the Chinese authorities to immediately allow him to communicate with his family as well as with the outside world, and to give him back his freedom and basic rights as a Chinese citizen.

For many years, Dr. Yang, as a Chinese scholar specializing in political science and economics, has been conducting systematic, comprehensive and in-depth research on topics relating to China's democratization and prosperity. With his academic achievements, Dr. Yang is highly regarded by his colleagues. In order to obtain more first-hand data, Dr. Yang has planned many times to go back to China to conduct on-the-spot investigations. Unfortunately, Chinese authorities have been refusing to renew Dr. Yang's passport solely on the basis of his political reviews which differ from those of the government's. This practice violates not only article 24 of the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" cosigned by the China: "The right of any citizen of a country may not be deprived", but also article 33 of the Chinese Constitution: "Anyone with Chinese nationality is a citizen of the People's Republic of China. All citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal before the law." Article 35 of the same Constitution stipulates that "Citizens of the People's Republic of China have freedom of speech, freedom of publication, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of parade and freedom of demonstration." However, in blatant violation of the Chinese Constitution, the Chinese authorities has time and again refused Dr. Yang's application for renewal of his passport.

For Dr. Yang Jianli, as a Chinese citizen as well as a scholar, it is extremely painful not being able to renew his passport and thus being deprived his right to go back to his own country to conduct academic research which is supposedly protected by the Chinese Constitution. Under such a helpless circumstance, Dr. Yang decided to use his friend's passport to go back to his home country to conduct academic investigation. Ironically, during his trip in his own country, he was arrested for not having a "valid passport." To make things worse, the authorities has not revealed the whereabouts of Dr. Yang, nor have they allowed him to contact his family. His wife and children are now in panic, and his friends and colleagues are deeply concerned. What the Chinese Communist authorities have been doing over this case is illegal, unreasonable and inhumane.

For a long time, the Chinese authorities have been claiming that what the Chinese people need is the right to be clad and fed. But the right to nationality for a Chinese citizen is an even more basic right. This is because without citizenship, there is no guarantee to the right to be clad and fed. Therefore, even following their own version of "human rights", the Chinese authorities have violated the basic rights of a Chinese citizen. As a citizen of China, Dr. Yang's may not be deprived of his basic rights, including the right to a Chinese passport. Renewing Dr. Yang's passport is the obligation of the government to its own citizens, and it should not be evaded on the basis of different political views. The Chinese government has the responsibility of not only protecting the interests of Chinese citizens on the Chinese land, but also protecting the interests of Chinese citizens residing in other countries. Now, Dr. Yang's right to conducting academic investigations and scholarly research is not only unprotected by the Chinese authorities, but is actually deprived by them. Their actions are deplorable.

In recent years, mainland China has made long strides in terms of economic reforms, to the extent of achieving near anarchy. In terms of political reforms, however, there is virtually no sign of progress. On the contrary, persecution of those whose thinking and belief do not follow the authorities' doctrines actually increased. Such economic anarchy accompanied by political suppression severely violates the basic freedom and interests of the ordinary people. And their discontent has no way of reliesing. Such highly lopsided development is like an time-bomb, threatening the future of both China and the international community. We sincerely hope that the Chinese authorities will begin to change its ways starting from this case by giving back Dr. Yang Jianli his basic freedom and rights as a Chinese citizen, thus making the first step toward true political reforms.

IFCSS has noticed that, recently, the Chinese government announced a series of new policies for attracting overseas scholars back to China to participate in the development of their home country. The Chinese government should realize that what China needs to import from other countries are not only the advanced technology, finance, and science, but also advanced political systems. If it really wants to attract the best scholars, the Chinese government should not only respect their right to do business, to do research, but also their rights to maintain and express their own political views, including those that differ from the government's.

As overseas students and scholars, we strongly protest against the detention of Dr. Yang Jianli by the Chinese authorities. At the same time, we appeal to the Chinese government to not only give back Dr. Yang's freedom, but also issue him a valid passport, so that he can continue his academic investigation in China. Only then can the Chinese government show its basic respect for the Chinese Constitution, and show to the Chinese people both in China and overseas that it has the will to lead China into a country ruled by law.