Jiang Weiping (; born c. 1955) is a veteran mainland Chinese journalist known internationally for his arrest by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in 2001. In 1999, he began publishing a series of articles about the Communist Party corruption in the

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

magazine ''Frontline'' (), including a report on

Bo Xilai Bo Xilai ( zh, s=薄熙来, p=Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. ...

. He was arrested in December 2000 and sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of revealing state secrets, but was granted early release in 2006. After a period of house arrest, he emigrated to Canada in 2009.

Career in China

Jiang is a graduate of the University of Liaoning, where he studied history. In the 1980s, he became a reporter for

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

. In 1984, he wrote his first story about official

, who was then a CCP official in a small town. In the early 1990s, Jiang became the

Northeastern China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

bureau chief of the pro-Beijing

Wen Wei Po ''Wen Wei Po'' is a pro-Beijing state-owned newspaper based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, 10 years after the launch of its Shanghai counterpart in 1938. Its head office is located at the Hing ...

newspaper in

. In mid-1999, Jiang also published a series of eight reports in ''Front Line'', a Hong Kong magazine, alleging corruption by various Chinese officials. Writing under the pen name "Wen Qingtian", Jiang stated that while mayor of

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

, Bo Xilai had covered up corruption by his wife Gu Kailai, whose law firm had handled a number of government development and real estate deals. Another article, titled "Former Daqing Mayor Qian Dihua Arrested: Richest Man in the Area Who Kept 29 Mistresses", stated that a mayor had spent state money on cars and apartments for mistresses, while a third reported that Ma Xiangdong, deputy mayor of

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

, had lost US$3 million of state money while gambling in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Ma was executed in 2001 for the loss.

Arrest and imprisonment

Despite having written under a pen name, Jiang was soon located by authorities. He was detained in December 2000 on charges of revealing "state secrets". According to Jiang, his lawyer was also arrested one day after agreeing to represent him. On September 5, 2001, he was found guilty in a secret trial, and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. The sentence was later reduced to six years by the Liaoning Province Higher People's Court. The sentence drew protest from journalist advocacy organizations around the world.

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

described Jiang as "a courageous and exemplary journalist who did not think twice about the dangers he was running when he denounced corruption at the highest levels in the Communist Party of China". The administration of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

also protested Jiang's detention and called for his release. Jiang wrote later that he was tortured by police in an attempt to force a

false confession A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogatio ...

; he stated that he lost consciousness several times and once required hospitalization. After a sympathetic guard agreed to deliver letters to Jiang's wife, who had them published in '' Asia Weekly'', Jiang reported that his treatment improved. In 2003, Jiang was transferred to Wafangdian prison in Dalian, where he performed

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

Post-imprisonment

On January 3, 2006, Jiang was released from prison and placed under unofficial house arrest. In 2009, he was allowed to emigrate to Canada. He settled in Toronto, serving as a Scholar at Risk at

Massey College Massey College is the postgraduate University of Toronto#Colleges, college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The college was established, built and ...

. In June 2012, Knopf Canada announced that it would publish Jiang's biography of Bo Xilai, who had recently made international news after his wife Gu Kailai was tried and convicted of the murder of British businessman

Neil Heywood Neil Heywood (20 October 1970 – 14 November 2011) was an English businessman. The great-grandson of John Barr Affleck, Britain’s Consul General in Tianjin from 1935 to 1938, Heywood lived and worked in China since the early 1990s and became ...

Awards

Jiang was awarded a

CPJ International Press Freedom Award The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by ...

in 2001 by the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

, which recognizes reporters or publications who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Initially unable to attend the ceremony due to his imprisonment, Jiang formally received his award in 2009. He was also awarded the "One Humanity Award" in 2006 by PEN Canada, which included a C$5000 cash prize.

Personal life

Jiang's is married to Li Yangling, who was briefly detained for protesting his imprisonment. The couple have one daughter. In 2004, before Jiang's own release from prison, PEN Canada secured permission for Li and her daughter to move to Canada.

References