Activist May Not Be Truly Free, Daughter Fears

BEIJING —  The daughter of a military surgeon who was detained for seven weeks after he criticized the Chinese government’s bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement said Wednesday that she was worried about her father’s future.

Jiang Yanyong, 72, who also blew the whistle on China’s SARS cover-up, was freed Monday night from an undisclosed military facility, where Chinese human rights activists said he underwent a series of “brainwashing” drills.

In a telephone interview from her home in Monterey, Calif., Jiang’s daughter, Jiang Rui, expressed concern that her father would be kept under house arrest and that his movements would continue to be monitored.

“I don’t know what the future holds for my father,” she said. “I just hope that whatever the Chinese government plans, that they follow the law.”

Jiang’s wife, Hua Zhongwei, who was arrested with her husband in early June, just days before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, said he was resting at home and was in good health. “Everything is OK with him,” she said in a brief telephone interview.

Human rights activists said Jiang’s release was hastened by international pressure on the Chinese government. U.S. national security advisor Condoleezza Rice had called for Jiang’s release during recent meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing.

Activists said they hope others will now be encouraged to speak out.

“He represents the conscience of Chinese intellectuals,” said Lu Siqing, director of the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

Jiang, the semiretired chief of surgery at the People’s Liberation Army Hospital No. 301 in Beijing, made international news last year when he broke ranks to reveal the extent of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in the capital.

His action led to the firing of China’s health minister as well as government pledges to be more open about the epidemic. Even though the government called Jiang a “SARS hero,” it continued to monitor him.

In February, Jiang wrote a letter to Chinese leaders urging the government to admit it was wrong when it crushed the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

In his letter, the Communist Party member asked the types of questions that have nagged Chinese citizens about the deaths of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people in what the government has referred to as the “1989 political disturbance.”

“If it was a disturbance, why did they have to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress it,” said Jiang’s letter, which appeared in the foreign media. “Why should they use machine guns and tanks to kill innocent, ordinary people.... The Communist Party must address the mistake it has made, and the earlier it does so the better.”

On June 1, seeking to head off possible disturbances surrounding the anniversary, officials arrested Jiang and his wife, who was released two weeks later.

The couple had to cancel a three-month visit to see their daughter, who lives in Monterey with her son, 5.

During her father’s confinement, Jiang Rui said, she called her mother daily in Beijing. Even though Hua could not speak with her husband, she received several notes from him assuring her that he was not being mistreated, Jiang Rui said.

“When I talked to my mother, we tried to discuss other things,” said Jiang Rui, 43. “I knew it was painful for her because there was nothing she could do.”

For weeks, there was talk that Jiang would be charged. Activists said he was subjected to “study sessions” in which he was forced to read communist doctrines and write daily reports.

“But as far as we know, Dr. Jiang has never acknowledged that he has ever done anything wrong,” said Lu, of the democracy group. “The People’s Liberation Army has tried to make him apologize for his so-called mistakes, but he has never done so.”

Jiang Rui said her father wanted to use his celebrity status to take on other health issues in China, including the nation’s response to its growing AIDS crisis. But she worries he may not get the chance to work for change in China, or receive permission to travel to see his family.

“People call Father a hero,” Jiang Rui said. “He did what he did because of his conscience. Having him released should be a happy thing. But now he loses freedom.

“I just want him to become my father again.”