CHINESE
HEALTH HERO DR. JIANG A POLITICAL PRISONER
18 July 2004
The doctor who blew the whistle on the Chinese government's
cover-up of the SARS outbreak is currently languishing
in a detention facility, without charges, and reportedly
undergoing social "re-training" sessions.
Dr. Jiang Yangyong became a problem for the sole governing
Chinese Communist Party, when he exposed the truth
about the SARS epidemic and revealed the clumsy official
cover-up, which had endangered public health at home
and abroad.
He
has been viewed by many Chinese as a national hero
for placing the welfare of the Chinese people ahead
of the interests of centralized power. Many believe
he saved countless lives by bringing SARS into the
light of day and allowing the proper scrutiny of the
virus and its patterns of contagion to inform the
global response and prevent a more serious health
threat from taking root.
Now,
TIME
magazine reports that "On June 1, while on
their way to apply for visas for their annual visit
to their daughter in the U.S., Jiang and his wife,
Hua Zhongwei, disappeared." They had been arrested
by the Chinese authorities in response to a letter
calling for a reversal of the official position on
the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Dr.
Jiang raised the ire of Party officials when he called
for the Chinese government to disavow
the massacre of student protesters at Tiananmen
Square in 1989. He did not in fact call for the end
of one-party rule in China or for the elimination
of the Communist Party, but instead commented that
the peaceful demonstrators were simply expressing
"their just demand for fighting corruption and
bureaucratic racketeering and for promoting honest
government." He has called for the government
to officially change its position, calling the student
movement "patriotic" and not an act of rebellion.
The
period of detention and indoctrination has been described
as "a harrowing experience psychologically"
for Dr. Jiang and his wife, who were kept under heavy
guard and subjected to intensive "study sessions"
designed to persuade them of the government's views.
TIME reports his wife has been released, but Dr. Jiang
"has been warned that these study sessions will
continue until his thinking changes."
Voice
of America News reports he has been held without
charges for over a month, due to his statements in
support of citizen participation in government. The
VOA editorial also calls for China to recognize the
need for participatory politics as it seeks to modernize
and become a "more progressive nation".
The
Washington
Post recently ran an editorial asserting that
the Chinese authorities now view Dr. Jiang as a serious
political threat. The piece notes that the official
state media have referred to Dr. Jiang as "an
honest doctor" and "a famous surgeon of
the nation", helping to raise his credibility
among the public, and showing that his legacy of speaking
truth in a moment of crisis holds sway not only with
the Chinese people, but also over their political
leadership.
The
Post article also states that Dr. Jiang has
enjoyed "a distinguished career with the People's
Liberation Army and as a member of the Communist Party",
which means his criticisms of official state public
relations policy resonate all the more. So it is all
the more shocking that the famed physician has been
detained for speaking against the government. Some
have raised the question as to whether President Hu
Jintao is a genuine moderate or whether he in fact
has control of the nation's military and security
apparatus. Former
President Jiang Zemin (no relation) still runs the
military, and it is widely suspected that he is
not only calling the shots, but may be the one who
decided to make the arrest.
The
U.S. State Department issued a statement, saying the
Chinese Communist Party must revise its policy on
Tiananmen Square and recognize "The right of
people to participate in government decisions that
affect their lives, the right of people to have a
say in who leads them. To live in a nation governed
by law, and to be able to speak and write freely,
to express their views without persecution."
[For more: China
Support Network]
