Jiang Yanyong (born October 4, 1931) is a Chinese

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who publicized a coverup of the

severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sev ...

(SARS) epidemic in Mainland China. Born into the Zhejiang Xingye Bank family, Jiang was the chief physician of the

301 Hospital The People's Liberation Army General Hospital and Medical School (301 Hospital; ) is the central military medical institution of the People's Liberation Army and the largest comprehensive military hospital in China. The 301 Hospital located in B ...

in Beijing and a senior member of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

. Jiang has been under periodic house arrest due to his role in exposing the coverup of SARS outbreak and calls for the Government of China to bear responsibility. According to a report in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Jiang is portrayed as a bad role model in Chinese educational material, for "harming the interests of the nation".

Education

Jiang attended

Yenching University Yenching University (), was a university in Beijing, China, that was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" comes from an alternative name for old Beijing, derived from its status ...

. He chose a career in medicine after seeing an aunt die of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. In 1952, he entered

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking Un ...

Career

Jiang joined the People's Liberation Army in 1954 and was assigned to the

(PLA General Hospital) in Beijing. In 1987, Jiang was named the hospital's chief surgeon. He held the military rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

. In June 1989, Jiang witnessed the results of the trauma inflicted on the students during the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. While the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...

virus began spreading in Mainland China in late 2002 and early 2003, the number of cases being reported in mainland China was drastically understated by the government. On April 4, 2003, Jiang emailed an 800-word letter to Chinese Central Television -4 (CCTV4) and Phoenix TV (Hong Kong) reporting that fact. Although neither of the two replied or published his letter, the information was leaked to the Western news organizations. On April 8, 2003, Jiang was reached by a journalist from ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' through telephone interview. Later the same day, Susan Jakes, a ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' journalist in Beijing also contacted Jiang. ''Time'' published the striking news right away with the title of "Beijing's SARS Attack". In this article, Jiang's letter was translated into English and, for the first time, the public was made aware of the actual situation in Mainland China. This letter forced the resignation of the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Beijing and the

Minister of Public Health The Minister for Public Health and Women's Health is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. The minister is not a member of the Scottish Cabinet, however, they report to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. ...

on April 21, 2003. The Chinese government began to actively deal with the growing

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

. Most public health experts believe that this act prevented the disease from reaching pandemic proportions. In February 2004, Jiang wrote an open letter to Premier

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic polic ...

, several vice premiers, the Politburo members and many other members of the

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...

. The letter asked for a re-examination of the responsibility borne by the Chinese government for the

Tiananmen Square Massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. A number of media sources indicate that because of Jiang Yanyong's senior rank the topic of what to do with him was discussed by the Politburo. On June 2, 2004, two days before the 15th anniversary of the massacre, Jiang Yanyong's family in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

reported that he and his wife were missing from their house in Beijing after being arrested and placed under military custody. He was released on July 19, 2004. In March 2019, he wrote to

general secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

calling the crackdown on student protests in Tiananmen Square a crime. Jiang's friends then reported that they lost contact with him and believed he was under house arrest. In February 2020, it was reported that he "has been placed under de facto house arrest since last year".

Award

In August 2004, Jiang was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for

Public Service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

. According to the board of trustees, "The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recognizes his brave stand for truth in Mainland China, spurring life-saving measures to confront and contain the deadly threat of SARS". On September 20, 2007, the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wi ...

gave Jiang the Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award.

References

External links

Jiang Yanyong on China Digital Times

BBC Article on the missing Jiang Yanyong

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040901233300/http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA170272004 Amnesty International article
Human Rights Watch article

at th

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Yanyong 1931 births Chinese dissidents People from Hangzhou Chinese military doctors Chinese whistleblowers Living people Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Ramon Magsaysay Award winners 2002–2004 SARS outbreak Yenching University alumni 20th-century Chinese physicians Peking Union Medical College alumni Physicians from Zhejiang

Education

Career

Award

See also

References

External links