h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The oppression connected with Tiananmen Square continues in China right now. In the lead up to the 15th anniversary of the 1989 massacre, the Chinese authorities have "disappeared" many known dissidents who might have protested. The Chinese authorities still classify as "counter-revolutionary turmoil" the peaceful protests, in which over a million people in Beijing alone called simply for an end to government corruption, and to consider political reform.

Today's news is that the Chinese authorities have "disappeared" Dr. Jiang Yanyong, who famously went public with the information on China's SARS epidemic, much to the annoyance of the people in Beijing who were orchestrating the cover-up. More recently Dr. Jiang went on record in China to ask the government to reconsider their verdict on the Tiananmen events of 1989.

The following letter is from Dr.Jiang's family, published in America today.

The Disappearance of Dr. Jiang Yanyong

Statement from Jiang Rui

Thursday, June 03, 2004 10:30am Beijing Time


We, the children of Dr. Jiang Yanyong, would like to appeal to the Chinese
government to investigate the disappearance of our parents in Beijing. We
would like to call the attention of the general public to the whereabouts
of Dr. Jiang Yanyong and his wife Hua Zhongwei.

Our parents left their apartment together at around 10 AM on the morning of
June 1st for matters that should have lasted no more than two hours.
Forty-eight hours have gone by, yet they have not returned home. Neighbors
have confirmed that the two have not returned.

While we do not want to speculate as to what happened to our parents, we
believe the authorities of Beijing 301 Military Hospital (where our father,
72, is a semi-retired surgeon) is deliberately withholding information from
us, for the following reasons:

1) Our parents left their apartment by way of transportation provided by
the hospital authorities.

2) Our family's inquiries to the hospital authorities about our
parent's whereabouts have been met with dubious answers. For example, "They
are safe,"and in an apparent warning about not releasing information to the
public regarding their disappearance, we were told, "You should not go
beyond the authority to whom you report."

The hospital authorities have so far refused to provide any specific
information regarding the whereabouts of our parents.

Jiang, Rui
Salinas, California
(831) 455-2056