Xiong Yan (; born 1 September 1964) is a Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer, and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

chaplain. He was a

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

involved in

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 } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the P ...

. Xiong Yan studied at

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

Law School from 1986–1989. He came to the United States of America as a political refugee in 1992, and later became a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in U.S. Army, serving in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Xiong Yan is the author of three books, and has earned six degrees. He ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district in 2022, and his campaign was reportedly attacked by agents of Communist China's Ministry of State Security.

Dissident

Growing up in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

, he moved to Beijing to pursue graduate level studies in law at

. He was a probationary 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 Ci ...

. While at Peking University, he was a member of ''Caodi'' Salon, which Liu Gang had organized. Yan was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. At one point, he called himself "general commander". After the crackdown at Tiananmen Square, he was placed on China's most wanted list. Captured in late June 1989 at Datong, he was returned to Beijing under armed guard of hundreds of soldiers. Afterwards, he was detained for 19 months at maximum security Qincheng Prison without being charged with a crime. After his release, Yan's academic credentials were stripped from him, and he was unable to obtain identification. During this period he converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

having met a member of an underground church. He fled mainland China in May 1992. After being granted political asylum he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in June 1992, initially moving to the Los Angeles area. He remains a

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kn ...

of mainland China.

After leaving China

Moving to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, he studied English at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and was accepted into its divinity school but declined its admission. He later attended Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary; eventually he earned a D.Min. degree from the same seminary in 2009. He is active in the overseas China democracy movement. In 2009, he made a trip to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

to attend a candlelight vigil on the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. It was estimated that 150,000 people attended the vigil. This was the first time, within a 17-year time span, for Yan to return to China since 1992.
In 2010, Chai Ling and he were panel members at a discussion on China's One-child policy held at Rayburn House Office Building. In 2015, after receiving word that his mother's health was failing, Yan appealed to mainland China to be allowed to return to see her before she dies; he was detained when trying to cross into China from

, and was unable to see her before she died. In 2017, when a United Kingdom diplomatic cable was declassified, which estimated that about 10,000 civilians were killed, Xiong agreed with the account.

Military service

Yan went on to join the United States Army while working on a second bachelor's degree, studying at the University of North Carolina. He graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1998. By 1999, he was a sergeant in the Army Reserve. He went on to earn an M.A. degree from the Covenant Theological Seminary in 2001 and a Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.) degree from

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is an academic divinity school founded in 1897 and located in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. It is part of and located on the main campus of Trinity International University. It� ...

in 2002. Serving eight years in the Army Reserve, he was commissioned as an officer in 2003. He serves as a Protestant chaplain of the Evangelical Church Alliance denomination. In 2010, he was a chaplain at the Warrant Officer Career College on

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators an ...

. In 2014, Yan was stationed at

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

. Yan served two tours in Iraq. Xiong has considered running for Congress in the future, after he retires from the Army. In 2017, Xiong was stationed in Hawaii.

Congressional campaign

He is running for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district as a Democrat. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...

has reported that his campaign has been attacked by agents of China's Ministry of State Security, including surveillance, and discussion of possible

smear campaigns A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics. It can be applied to individua ...

, honey trapping and physical attacks.

Personal life

Xiong is married to Qian Liyun. She was arrested along with Shen Tong due to activity relating to the Democracy for China Fund in 1992; they were released and sent to the United States. In the United States, Liyun also joined the Army.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Xiong, Yan 1964 births Living people American military personnel of Chinese descent United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Chinese dissidents Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese human rights activists Peking University alumni Chinese Christians Writers from Hunan American evangelicals University of North Carolina alumni Covenant Theological Seminary alumni Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni United States Army chaplains Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary alumni People from Loudi People from Shuangfeng County Converts to Christianity