Jiang Yanyong

Dr. Jiang Yanyong, 72, alarmed Chinese leaders when he wrote a letter dated Feb. 24 urging them to declare the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests a patriotic movement. He asked for a "resolution of errors committed by our party" and a reversal of the official verdict that the non-violent demonstrations were a counterrevolutionary riot.

Jiang returned home July 19, said his wife, Hua Zhongwei, who was detained with her husband June 1 ahead of the Tiananmen crackdown's 15th anniversary. She was released two weeks later.

Jiang became known internationally when he broke with government secrecy last year to reveal the true scale of the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in the capital. His disclosure was followed by the dismissal of the health minister and government promises of more openness about the disease.

In the following months, state media praised Jiang as an anti-SARS hero and an "honest doctor."

The Japan Times Weekly: July 31, 2004
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