Jiang Yanyong

Jiang Yanyong (Traditional Chinese: 蔣彥永, Simplified Chinese: 蒋彦永, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiǎng Yànyǒng, Wade-Giles: Chiang Yen-yung) (born 4 October 1931) is a Chinese physician from Beijing who publicized a coverup of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China. He is a senior member of the Communist Party of China, and as a military doctor holds a rank within the People's Liberation Army which is equivalent to Major General.

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Introduction

During the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Dr. Jiang was the chief physician of the 301 Military Hospital in Beijing, China. While there, he witnessed the results of the trauma inflicted on the students during the massacre.

While the SARS virus began spreading in China in late 2002 and early 2003, the number of cases being reported in mainland China was drastically understated by the government. On April 4th, Jiang emailed a 800 words letter to Chinese Central Television -4 (CCTV4) and PhoenixTV(HongKong) reporting that fact. Although neither of the two replied or published his letter, the information was leaked to the western news organizations. On April 8th, 2003, Dr. Jiang was reached by a journalist from Washington Post through telephone interview. Later the same day, Susan Jakes, Time journalist in Beijing also contacted Dr. Jiang. Time published the striking news right away with the title as "Beijing's SARS Attack". In this article, Dr. Jiang's letter was translated into English and for the first time, the rest of the world knew about the real situation in China. This letter forced the resignation of the Mayor of Beijing and the Minister of Public Health on April 21st, 2003. The Chinese government began to actively deal with the growing epidemic. Most public health experts believe that this act prevented the disease from reaching pandemic proportions.

In February 2004, Dr. Jiang wrote an open letter to the Premier Wen Jiabao, several deputy premiers, the Politburo and many other members of the Chinese government. The letter asked for a re-examination of the responsibility borne by the Chinese government for the Tiananmen Square Massacre. A number of media sources indicate that because of Jiang Yanyong's senior rank the topic of what to do with him was discussed by the Politburo.

On June 2, 2004, two days before the 15th anniversary of the massacre, Dr. Jiang Yanyong's family in California reported that he and his elderly wife were missing from their house in Beijing after being arrested and placed under military custody. Many sources have indicated that while a number of high level members believed that Jiang should have been ignored, that his arrest was the result of personal intervention of Jiang Zemin (no relation), who as Chairman of the Central Military Commission ordered the arrest of Jiang Yanyong on the grounds of violating military discipline.

Dr. Jiang's family in California was contacted with a note supposedly from Dr. Jiang's wife. The note stated only that Dr. Jiang and his wife were safe.

On June 15 2004, a source close to the Jiang family reported Hua Zhongwei, the elderly wife of Dr. Jiang Yanyong, was freed two weeks after being detained in secret. In early July 2004 it was alleged that Dr. Jiang was being subjected to indoctrination efforts by the Chinese military. She was said to be safe in her Beijing home. The doctor himself was released from Chinese custody on July 19 2004.

Dr. Jiang is the cousin of Chiang Yan-shih, a high-ranking Kuomintang official who once served as Secretary-General to the President of the Republic of China on Taiwan. This is significant as many feared that Dr. Jiang would be charged with spying for Taiwan.

Award

In August 2004, Dr. Jiang was awarded a Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. According to RMAF.org.ph, the board of trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation "recognizes his brave stand for truth in China, spurring life-saving measures to confront and contain the deadly threat of SARS."

September 20th of 2007, New York Academy of Sciences gave him "The Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award."