Sars hero held over Tiananmen letter

[RonOnGuitar]

Of course, I suppose this is only meant to prevent another outbreak of SARS via "re-education"....

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Sars hero held over Tiananmen letter



China admits interned doctor is being held for 'educating'



Jonathan Watts in Beijing

Tuesday July 6, 2004

The Guardian



The elderly Chinese surgeon who became a national hero by exposing the government's cover-up of the Sars epidemic last year is again locked in a battle of wills with the authorities that could have profound political ramifications.

Jiang Yanyong, 72, a doctor in the People's Liberation Army, is being detained by security officials at an undisclosed location, where he is under daily pressure to renounce a fiercely critical letter he wrote about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.



If he backs down, hardliners in the communist party will have neutered one of their most powerful opponents; if he is sentenced to jail, he would become one of the country's most famous and popular political prisoners.



The Guardian has seen a letter sent by an anonymous sympathiser who details the "daily brainwashing sessions" faced by Mr Jiang since he and his wife were manhandled into an armoured vehicle on June 1, as they were about to drive to the US embassy to apply for a travel visa.



They were among dozens of dissidents and politically sensitive figures who were removed from public view before the anniversary of the Tiananmen killings on June 4.



However, while most of the others were released soon after, Mr Jiang has not been seen since. On June 8, his son was asked to provide his dentures. Two days later, his tickets for America were cancelled.



His wife, Hua Zhongwei, who had gone on hunger-strike when officials told her she could not stay with her husband, was released on June 15 and told not to speak to reporters.



According to the letter, Mr Jiang has been warned he will be kept under 24-hour supervision and forced to undergo political re-education until he "changes his thinking" about the army's attack on civilians.



But in a recent note, the doctor - a veteran of labour camps during the cultural revolution - expressed his determination not to back down.



China's government-controlled media has not reported Mr Jiang's detention. The only official statement appeared in yesterday's Washington Post.



"Jiang Yanyong, as a soldier, recently violated the relevant discipline of the military. Based on relevant regulations, the military has been helping and educating him," the government told the paper.



Security officials are interrogating him about a letter he wrote in February describing his horror at trying to treat the dying victims of the massacre and called on the communist party to reinterpret their protest as an act of patriotism.



Because Mr Jiang is a mem ber of the military and the communist party, his letter - which was leaked to the international media - was the biggest internal challenge on Tiananmen that has been made public.



Sources close to the doctor said the military and the communist party central committee had launched an investigation into how the letter was leaked. They fear the authorities may be preparing to charge the doctor with passing on state secrets or undermining the national interest.



The former president and current head of the military, Jiang Zemin (no relation) is believed to be behind the attempt to "re-educate" the doctor, whose senior rank, roughly equivalent to a four-star general, means he could not be detained without the highest approval.



"The doctor's letter really hurt Mr Jiang's power base," said Hu Jia, a pro-democracy activist. "They want to get him to issue a statement of regret or disown it altogether. But he will never do that because he is convinced that he told the truth."



The daily "study sessions" appeared aimed at forcing the surgeon into an apology or confession that will undermine his moral standing and popularity.



He may be vulnerable because one of his relatives once served as an education minister in Taiwan, which is considered a rogue province.



But to millions of Chinese, Mr Jiang is a hero for blowing the whistle on the authorities' attempt to hide the spread of Sars.



At first he was treated with suspicion by communist leaders, but after an about-face by the government - which sacked the health minister and the governor of Beijing in the wake of Mr Jiang's revelations - he became a celebrity.



His face has since adorned the front pages of state-run publications, which have celebrated his moral courage in putting people's lives before political expediency.

[questionnaire]

...... the Chinese communist government still has some very nasty totalitarian tendencies. Schoolboys know that. Let's hope they don't try to dominate the globe in the future (the Chinese communists, that is, not the schoolboys ....).



Now, back to the real issues, what the schoolboys don't know ....