Chinese Dissident, Yang Tongyan, Honored for Writings

NPR, April 30, 2008

All Things Considered interviews Larry Siems, Director of the Pen American Center about Chinese writer, Yang Tongyan, who won the Pen/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Mr. Tongyan is currently serving a 12 year sentence in a Chinese prison for publishing anti-government articles on the Internet. Larry Siems, director of the PEN American Center, explains why Yang is being honored with the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

The award, which honors international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN’s Annual Gala on April 28, 2008 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Distinguished writer, historian, and PEN Trustee Barbara Goldsmith underwrites the award.

Unfortunately, I was not able to locate any works by Mr. Tongyan in translation anywhere, which I find a serious flaw in the Pen American's Center's public relations. I think it is important to read these works as well as advocate for freedom of expression.

The following account is from a press release by the Pen American Center.

Yang Tongyan is a dissident writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC). He is known for his critical writings published on web sites such as Boxun.com and EpochTimes.com. His online publications include poems, essays, novels, short stories and memos, many of which were written while in prison.

On December 23, 2005, Yang was detained without a warrant in Nanjing and held incommunicado at Dantu District Detention Centre in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. His family was not notified of his arrest or whereabouts until January 27, 2006, when they received formal notification dated January 20 from the Public Security Bureau of Zhenjiang City, east of Nanjing. He was convicted of subversion of state power for posting anti-government articles on the Internet, organizing a branch of the (outlawed) China Democracy Party, participating in China’s Velvet Action Movement and being elected as a member of its “Interim Government of Democratic China,” and accepting illegal funds from overseas to transfer to jailed political dissidents and their families. On May 16, 2006, after a three-hour trial that was closed to the public, he was sentenced by the Zhenjiang Intermediate Court in eastern China’s Jiangsu province to 12 years’ imprisonment and four years’ deprivation of political rights.

Yang Tongyan is currently being held in Nanjing Prison in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, where his diabetes and arthritis are reportedly worsening. He has submitted a petition to challenge the court verdict in what is his third stint in prison. Yang was jailed for a decade from 1990 to 2000 on “counter-revolution” charges for his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy protests. He was also held incommunicado on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power from December 24, 2004 to January 25, 2005.

Yang Tongyan is one of nearly 200 members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. ICPC was established in 2001 by leading dissident writers inside China and in diaspora. It has become an important voice for freedom of expression in China, and as a result, its members have come under increased pressure from Chinese authorities. In December 2007, Chinese police detained two writers and issued warnings and posted guards outside the homes of dozens of others to prevent ICPC from holding an informal awards dinner in Beijing. Authorities forced the hotel where the event was to take place to cancel the event and warned all invitees and dozens of their colleagues and supporters throughout the country against appearing for the dinner. Police guarded the homes of key members of the PEN Center and detained the two awardees through the weekend, telling one of them that actions were part of a concerted effort to rein in dissent in advance of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

PEN has invited Yang’s lawyer, Li Jianqiang, to travel from Beijing to accept the award on his behalf. Li, an ICPC member himself, has represented at least eight of the 38 writers and journalists PEN believes are imprisoned in violation of their right to freedom of expression in China. He had his license to practice law revoked last year for his efforts.

In announcing the award today in New York, Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems praised the unflagging courage of this year’s PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award recipient and paid tribute to the other jailed members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. “Yang Tongyan is in prison for the third time since 1990 for refusing to bow to official censorship and for insisting on his universally-guaranteed right to criticize government policies. China has declared its interest in improving its human rights record, but imprisoning Yang on subversion charges after a hasty, closed trial hardly looks like progress. Like our four other colleagues from the Independent Chinese PEN Center who are also currently in prison, Mr. Yang has defended the freedom of expression at enormous cost, embodying the highest ideals of PEN. We are proud to call him our colleague, and extremely honored to present him with this year’s PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.”

Noting that Yang Tongyan is one of 38 writers and journalists PEN believes are being held in Chinese prisons in violation of their right to freedom of expression, Siems renewed PEN’s calls for their immediate and unconditional release. “In December, 2007 PEN American Center joined the Independent Chinese PEN Center in launching the We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression campaign, a coordinated, international effort to win the release of all jailed writers and journalists in China before the Olympic Games open in Beijing in August. As Salman Rushdie said when we launched the campaign, ‘It’s really very simple. It will be an embarrassment for China if even one of our colleagues is still in prison when the Games begin. There’s only one good number: zero.’”

This is the 22nd year that the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards have honored international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression. Candidates are nominated by International PEN and any of its 145 constituent PEN centers around the world, and screened by PEN American Center and an Advisory Board comprising some of the most distinguished experts in the field. The Advisory Board for the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards includes Carroll Bogert, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch; Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation; Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice-President of International PEN; Aryeh Neier, President of the Open Society Institute; and Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The PEN Barbara Goldsmith Award is an extension of PEN’s year-round advocacy on behalf of the more than 1,009 writers and journalists who are currently threatened or in prison. Thirty-nine women and men have received the award since 1987; 28 of the 31 honorees who were in prison at the time they were honored were subsequently released.

Pen American Center Objects over Arrest of Prominent Tibetan Writer & Journalist, Jamyang Kyi

New York, Toronto, Stockholm, April 18, 2008—Writers from Canada, the United States, and China expressed concern today about reports that Jamyang Kyi, a prominent Tibetan writer, reporter, activist and singer, has been detained in Qinghai Province. Citing “further evidence of a deterioration of human rights,” representatives of PEN Canada, PEN American Center, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center called on the Chinese government to release Kyi and immediately end the crackdown on writers and journalists in Tibet and China.

Jamyang Kyi, a blogger who has also published articles on women’s rights in Tibet, was escorted from her office at the state-owned Qinghai TV on April 1, and has been detained since then. Her husband, Lamao Jia, says that she has not been seen since April 7. Police reportedly searched her home and confiscated her computer and contact lists.

Kyi’s arrest comes amidst a crackdown against protests in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas in Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces, and at a time when the Chinese government is rigorously prosecuting writers throughout China before the Olympic Games begin in August. Writer and activist Hu Jia was repeatedly denied access to his lawyer last week and subsequently missed a deadline to appeal his three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

“We are loathe to add yet another writer to our list of colleagues imprisoned in China,” said Larry Siems, Director of the Freedom to Write and International Programs at PEN American Center. “The rising number that PEN is charting points to ominous signs that free expression is increasingly threatened on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. With our colleagues at PEN Canada and the Independent Chinese PEN Center, we urge the Chinese government to reverse this trend and release Jamyang Kyi and the other 38 writers immediately and unconditionally.”

PEN American Center, PEN Canada, and the Independent Chinese PEN Center are among the 145 worldwide centers of International PEN, an organization that works to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere, to fight for freedom of expression, and represent the conscience of world literature. On December 10, 2007, the centers launched We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression, an Olympic countdown campaign to protest China’s imprisonment of at least 39 writers and journalists and to seek an end to internet censorship and other restrictions on the freedom to write in that country.

Jamyang Kyi is also a noted singer & performer.

Report on Beijing's Displaced

Click on the title above for a graphic depiction of Chinese petitioners in Beijing from all over China. The video is an in depth coverage of the displacement of Chinese citizens in Beijing who have been evicted from their homes for development associated with the Olympic games. Aiden Hartley is the journalist. Thanks to China Digital Times
for the link.

This film, "China's Olympic Lie" is well worth watching as it shows just how frustrated and enraged ordinary Chinese citizens are. Mr. Hartley manages to get footage of a "Black Jail," an unofficial facility where petitioners are illegally being held in violation of their citizen's rights.

China On My Mind

Last night on my other [dharma] blog Advice to AbushriI touched upon some of the themes of these two NY Times Op Eds.

China's Loyal Youth

Don't Know Much About Tibetan History

Both these links are connected to a further conversation started below by Mr. Liang Jing in response to Nick Kristof's "Calling China."

Nick Kristof's "Calling China"

On March 30, 2008, Nick Kristof in the NY Times asked Chinese readers to respond to his column, "Calling China." Of the hundreds of posts, here's one that I found to be
an astute analysis of basic cultural misunderstandings regarding Chinese perceptions of the Dalai Lama by a Mr. Liang Jing who brilliantly outlines the root source of
Han Chinese ignorance about Tibet.

#342.
April 1st,
2008
10:03 am

The Dalai Lama’s Wisdom and Ignorance of the Han

On March 28 the 14th Dalai Lama appealed personally to Chinese people everywhere, especially to those in the PRC, hoping that they understand his sincere wishes for Tibetan autonomy and cultural rights only, without seeking independence for Tibet. This was to my knowledge the first time the Dalai Lama has gone over the heads of the Chinese government and leaders to engage the Han people’s understanding directly; its significance is far-reaching. No one, of course, imagines that this appeal will have a positive impact on Hu Jintao and the Chinese leadership as a whole. On the contrary, I believe that it can only further shame them into anger. If Hu Jintao has recently relaxed at all on the issue of dialogue with the Dalai Lama, it would not be due to this appeal, but more likely the result of pressure exerted by Western communities, in particular the United States. The only language understood by China’s mediocre rulers is that of power and interest.

The Dalai Lama’s appeal showed that he knows this, but more importantly, sees further that another huge and terrible force supports the truculence of China’s leaders, and that is Han ignorance. As long as the majority of the Han people cannot cast off their ignorance, Chinese leaders hardly dare face the Tibet issue rationally.

The ill-informed responses to western media reports of some overseas Chinese youth are most thought-provoking in this connection. They immediately relay these false reports back to China as ironclad proof of Western ill will, and gain a strong response among domestic internet users. Chinese residing overseas should not be surprised that Western media, faced with fierce commercial competition, often report things inaccurately. However, they have not hesitated to politicize such false reports, and what they actually expose is their own prejudice. Why don’t they use this to demand that the Chinese government adopt a more open policy toward the media at home and abroad? Was it not the Chinese authorities’ comprehensive blockade of the media that created an opportunity for these false reports?

Nationalism poisons the intelligence of mankind, using the traditional weaknesses of various civilizations to enlarge the common weaknesses of humanity. The concept of an authoritarian grand unity that has dominated Chinese civilization for more than 2,000 years has left a deep imprint in the culture of the Han. Two pathologies thus formed among them—cultural arrogance, and the mentality of power and interest. These two are the root causes of the disease of ignorant thinking among many Han Chinese.

Of course, the culture of arrogance, and the pathology of playing up to the powerful are not unique to the Chinese. Western cultural arrogance in particular, bloated thanks to its technical, military and overall economic strength, has brought great harm to humanity.

China was one of the most serious victims of Western cultural arrogance. Were it not for the ferocity of Marxism-Leninism would China’s modernization have killed so many people? But a major reason for China becoming a serious victim of Western cultural arrogance, was the Han predilection for power and interest. When stubborn cultural arrogance incurred comprehensive humiliation, China’s Han people not only rushed to cut off the queues he Manchust had forced them to wear, they set about indiscriminately purging their own cultural traditions. It was not good enough to “smash the Confucian shop” — without understanding what the October Revolution was all about, they concluded that they had to “follow the Russian path.” Compared to the Han people’s destruction of tradition and fratricidal rush to catch up with trends, the Dalai Lama may look like an out of touch, stubborn fool. To safeguard the autonomy of a mere few million Tibetans rights and protect their obviously backward culture, he has dared to set itself against the more than one billion Han Chinese.

Everyone, however, from Jiang Zemin on his visit to the US to the “indignant youth” on the Internet today, is puzzled by the same question: how can a monk in exile not only gain Western political support, but, even more inconceivably, be pursued by Western celebrities, gaining wide appreciation and support from Western cultural and religious elites? With the strength of but one man, the Dalai Lama has outdone thousands of Chinese diplomats overseas, and has overwhelmed the favor the Communist Party has spent millions on currying with Tibetans domestically. Could it be he really does have superhuman intelligence?

The wisdom of the Dalai Lama, so difficult for Chinese to understand, benefits from his Buddhist beliefs, from the ancient sagely wisdom concentrated in Buddhist culture. This is not only gives him the self-confidence for dialogue with Western culture as an equal; through meeting him, many of the Western cultural elite become convinced of the stupidity of Western cultural arrogance, and recognize that every culture, as every life, has unique value, regardless of how powerful it is. The Dalai Lama’s great wisdom not only to enables him to win dignity for the Tibetan culture, but also makes him the embodiment of equal cultural rights, which is a universal value.

Lao Zi said, “By not contending, none in the empire will be able to contend with you.” The Dalai Lama’s wisdom shows us the true meaning of this great idea: someone who upholds the principles of mutual respect can be invincible, and because he is in fact maintaining common human dignity. The reason the Dalai Lama does not contend for sovereignty over Tibet yet insists on Tibetan autonomy, is because he is convinced that without national autonomy the cultural rights of Tibetans cannot be preserved, or their dignity maintained, and without dignity for the Tibetans there cannot be any for the Han either.

The ignorance of many Han lies in the fact that devotion to power and interest has rendered them incapable of understanding this reasoning: that when the Han deprived Tibetans of their autonomy, they deprive themselves of their own rights to democratic self-government, and thereby to give up their dignity in the face of all humanity.

— Posted by Liang Jing