Jiang Tianyong () is a human rights lawyer in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Based in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, he is a prominent figure in the
Weiquan
The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts, and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement ...
(rights defending) movement, and has defended
Tibetans
Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...
, petitioners,
Falun Gong
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
adherents,
HIV/AIDS victims, and other vulnerable groups. Jiang's human rights advocacy has drawn the ire of Chinese authorities; his applications for renewal of his legal license have been denied, and he has been detained on multiple occasions.
Advocacy
Jiang was born in Luoshan,
Henan province
Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...
, where he worked as a teacher from 1995 to 2004. In 2004 year, he left his job as a teacher, relocated to Beijing, and become a human rights lawyer.
[ He passed the bar exam in 2005, and became a partner in the Beijing Global Lawfirm,][ along with several other prominent human rights lawyers. He has taken on a number of politically sensitive cases, including those of petitioners and religious and ethnic minorities.][Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers]
Jiang Tianyong
[ In 2008, Jiang offered to provide legal services to Tibetans facing charges in the aftermath of the ]2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also referred to as the 2008 Tibetan uprising in Tibetan media, was a series of protests and demonstrations over the Government of China, Chinese government's treatment and persecution of Tibetan people, Tibetans. Protes ...
,[Bill Schiller]
“Lawyers pay high price for coming to aid of Tibetans”
The Star, 17 June 2008. and was involved in the high-profile defense of a Tibetan cleric, along with lawyer Li Fangping
Li, li, or LI may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects
* Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political tec ...
.[Gillian Wong]
'China Takes Hard Line on Activists, Many Missing
Associated Press, 21 March 2011. Jiang began advocating for Falun Gong adherents in 2008, and by late 2009 said he had defended nearly 20 practitioners who had been detained for their spiritual practice.[Jiang Tianyong]
"Written Testimony submitted to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the rule of law in China"
29 October 2009. Jiang has also advocated on behalf of citizens who contracted HIV/AIDS in tainted blood transfusions or donations,[ and was involved in advocating for victims of the Shanxi " black brick kiln" case.][
]
Detentions
Jiang has been detained on multiple occasions by Chinese security agents in response to his human rights advocacy.[Freedom House]
Special Feature:Cyberdisappearance in Action
China Media Bulletin, No. 29, 14 July 2011. In 2008, Jiang was informed that his license to practice law had expired.[Human Rights in China]
Chinese Rights Defense Lawyers Under All-out Attack by the Authorities
, 4 June 2009.
On 19 February 2011, he was one of several lawyers and dissidents detained as part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Jiang was held in custody for two months. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Jiang said he was beaten and abused in custody. While in the detention center, interrogators reportedly kicked and punched Jiang repeatedly, and forced him to sit motionless for up to 15 hours at a stretch.
In November 2016, Jiang was feared to be in custody again, according to his wife. On December 6, Philip Alston
Philip Geoffrey Alston is an Australian international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Globa ...
, the UN's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said Jiang's disappearance was in reprisal for his cooperation with the UN during Alston's visit to China. Jiang was sentenced in 2017 to two years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power".
He was released in 2019, and reported to be living with his family in central China, under close watch from Chinese authorities.
In May 2021, Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...
reported that Jiang remained under house arrest.
Notes
External links
Interview with Voice of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Tianyong
Living people
Chinese human rights activists
Weiquan movement
1971 births
20th-century Chinese lawyers
21st-century Chinese lawyers