Jiang Yanyong

Jiang Yanyong ( Chinese蔣彥永, simplified 蒋彦永, Hanyu Pinyin : Jiǎng Yànyǒng, Wade-Giles : Chiang Yen-yung; born October 4, 1931 ) is a Chinese doctor from Beijing who published a revelatory story about the SARS epidemic in China . Jiang was the chief physician at Beijing 301 Military Hospital and a long-time member of the Chinese Communist Party .

Life

In 1989, Jiang was the chief physician at Beijing 301 Military Hospital . As a medical officer , he has the rank of major general in the People's Liberation Army . In this capacity he experienced the impact of the Tian'anmen massacre on the students.

In late 2002 / early 2003, when the SARS virus was spreading in China, the Chinese government drastically reduced the number of people infected in public reports. On April 4, 2003, Jiang sent an 800-word email to China Central Television -4 and PhoenixTV ( Hong Kong ) detailing the issue. Neither of the two senders replied to the letter or published the information. Nevertheless, the information reached Western media. On April 8, 2003, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal was able to interview Jiang over the phone. Later that day, Time Magazine's Susan Jakes also spoke to Jiang. That conversation resulted in a quick release titled Beijing's SARS Attack . This article published an English translation of Jiang's e-mail and was the first time the real situation in China came to the public. As a result, the Mayor of Beijing and the Chinese Minister of Health resigned on April 21, 2003 and the government began to grapple with the growing epidemic. Many health experts believe that this prevented SARS from developing into a pandemic .

In February 2004, Jiang wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China , Wen Jiabao , his deputies, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, and numerous other members of the government. In the letter, he requested that responsibility for the 1989 Tian'anmen massacre be re-examined. Some media reported that Jiang's high rank led to discussions in the Politburo about what to do with him.

On June 2, 2004, two days before the 15th anniversary of the massacre, Jiang's family in California reported that he and his wife had been arrested by the military. On June 15, 2004, Mr. Hua Zhongwei, Jiang's wife, was released. On July 19, 2004, Jiang was released.

Awards

• 2004: Ramon Magsaysay Prize for Achievements in Public Administration
• 2007: The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award from the New York Academy of Sciences

Web links

• Jiang Yanyong on China Digital Times
• Time Magazine 2003 Biography of Dr. Jiang Yanyong
• Time Magazine contents of the 2003 letter about SARS
• BBC Article on the missing Dr. Jiang Yanyong
• Translation of the text of the February 2004 letter written by Dr. Jiang Yanyong asking for a reexamination of the Tiananmen Square massacre
• Amnesty International article
• Human Rights Watch article
• NY Times article detailing release
• CITATION for Jiang Yanyong at the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation website
• Philip P. Pan's article in the New Republic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sars hero vanishes in Beijing anniversary swoop . In: Daily Telegraph , June 4, 2004.