2nd time in less than a year Harvard Fellow, Yang Jianli, refused entry into his country

Washington DC, May 9, 2009. Noted pro democracy architect and Harvard Fellow Dr. Yang Jianli was refused entry into Hong Kong at approximately 8:00 p.m. Hong Kong time (8:00 a.m. EDT). Hong Kong authorities gave no reason for the refusal. A permanent resident of the United States, Dr. Yang is a Chinese citizen with a valid Chinese passport. Dr. Yang flew into Hong Kong from Taipei, Taiwan.

According to Initiatives for China Director, Jim Geheran, this is the second time in less than a year that Dr. Yang has been refused entry into his own country. “On August 5, 2008, Dr. Yang was refused entry into Hong Kong and detained without cause for several hours before he was forcibly put on a plane to Japan,” Geheran said.

“The refusal of Hong Kong authorities to give any cause for denying Dr. Yang’s entry into Hong Kong strongly indicates that they were operatinog under direct orders from the government in Beijing,” Geheran said.

Geheran emphasized that under both Chinese law and well established international law, a citizen with a valid passport cannot be blocked from entering or leaving his home country. According to Geheran, the incident with Dr. Yang is typical of how the Chinese government routinely overlooks its own and international laws. “We must ask ourselves which way the world is going when a government that rules 20% of the world’s population, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the second largest trading partner of the U.S., disregards international law at will.” commented Mr. Geheran.

In a brief conversation with Dr. Yang, Geheran reported that Dr. Yang was “very disappointed” that Hong Kong authorities had refused him entry “When the rule of men overrides the rule of law, people are stripped of their dignity. This is what Tiananmen taught us in 1989, and this is what Charter 08 tells us in 2009,” Dr. Yang said.

Dr. Yang is on a long-planned international itinerary that will take him to several countries including Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. The purpose of his trip is to particpate in activities to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the June 4th Pro Democracy Movement, which abruptly ended when Chinese army tanks rolled across Tiananmen Square in Beijing on the morning of June 4, 1989. An untold number of people were killed or wounded. To this date the Chinese government has not aknowledged that this event ever happened.

Dr. Yang will return to the U.S. in time to participate in the 20th Anniversary Tiananmen Commemoration event on Capitol Hill, Washington DC on June 4, 2009. For more information visit www.initiativesforchina.org.