Jiang Lijun
Encyclopedia
Jiang Lijun is a Chinese
freelance writer. He has been detained by the Chinese government
since November 2002 for posting articles on the Internet which the government considered subversive
. He is a native of Tieling
in Liaoning
.
The articles written by Jiang included an open letter
to the Sixteenth National Congress
of the Communist Party of China
, which called for democratic reform
.
Jiang was detained on November 6, 2002 and formally arrested on December 14, 2003, for “Internet writing and publishing dissident articles”. He was charged with “Inciting subversion of the state power”. On November 28, 2003 the no.2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing found Jiang guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment for four years, and deprivation of political rights for one year. Since this time Jiang has being held in Jinzhou Prison (锦州监狱) in Liaoning.
A draft email found on his Yahoo page containing proposals for a more democratic China was the principal evidence against him. Writing this draft was considered by the Government as taking part in “subversive activities that aim to undermine the authority of the Communist Party”.
In April 2006, Reporters Without Borders
, which has been actively seeking Jiang's release, revealed that Yahoo!
may have aided Chinese authorities in convicting Jiang by providing information about Jiang's email accounts on its servers
in Hong Kong.
are Shi Tao
, Li Zhi
, and Wang Xiaoning
.
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
freelance writer. He has been detained by the Chinese government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
since November 2002 for posting articles on the Internet which the government considered subversive
Subversion (politics)
Subversion refers to an attempt to transform the established social order, its structures of power, authority, and hierarchy; examples of such structures include the State. In this context, a "subversive" is sometimes called a "traitor" with respect to the government in-power. A subversive is...
. He is a native of Tieling
Tieling
Tieling is a prefecture-level city in Liaoning province of the People's Republic of China.The population is 3 million at the 2nd of 2004. Tieling is a city where coal mining is an important industry.The mayor of Tieling is Li Wenke...
in Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
.
The articles written by Jiang included an open letter
Open letter to the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China
The Open Letter to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was a petition from political activists in the People's Republic of China which urged the Chinese Communist Party to introduce political reforms....
to the Sixteenth National Congress
Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China
The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing between November 8-14 2002. 2,114 delegates and 40 specially invited delegates elected a 356-member 16th CPC Central Committee, as well as a 121-member Central Commission for Discipline Inspection...
of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, which called for democratic reform
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
.
Jiang was detained on November 6, 2002 and formally arrested on December 14, 2003, for “Internet writing and publishing dissident articles”. He was charged with “Inciting subversion of the state power”. On November 28, 2003 the no.2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing found Jiang guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment for four years, and deprivation of political rights for one year. Since this time Jiang has being held in Jinzhou Prison (锦州监狱) in Liaoning.
A draft email found on his Yahoo page containing proposals for a more democratic China was the principal evidence against him. Writing this draft was considered by the Government as taking part in “subversive activities that aim to undermine the authority of the Communist Party”.
In April 2006, Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, which has been actively seeking Jiang's release, revealed that Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
may have aided Chinese authorities in convicting Jiang by providing information about Jiang's email accounts on its servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
in Hong Kong.
Other cases
Other cases involving political prisoners in the People's Republic of China where information had been provided by Yahoo!Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
are Shi Tao
Shi Tao
Shi Tao is a mainland Chinese journalist, writer and poet, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.-Brief history:Shi Tao...
, Li Zhi
Li Zhi (dissident)
Li Zhi was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in December 2003 in the People's Republic of China for trying to join the Democracy Party of China, which is a banned organization in communist China, and for criticizing corruption...
, and Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning
Wang Xiaoning is a Chinese dissident from Shenyang who was arrested by authorities of the People's Republic of China for publishing controversial material online using his Yahoo! email account....
.
See also
- Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland ChinaBlocking of Wikipedia in mainland ChinaOn several occasions, the government and Internet service providers of the People's Republic of China have blocked access to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia due to strict censorship laws enacted by the PRC. The blocks function in a similar way to a content filter...
- Chinese WikipediaChinese WikipediaChinese Wikipedia is the Chinese language edition of Wikipedia, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. Started in October 2002, Chinese Wikipedia had over 270,000 articles as of September 2009 and 383,391 articles as of November 7, 2011...
- DissidentDissidentA dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
- Golden Shield ProjectGolden Shield ProjectThe Golden Shield Project , colloquially referred to as the Great Firewall of China is a censorship and surveillance project operated by the Ministry of Public Security division of the government of the People's Republic of China...
- Human rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
- Internet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
- Internet in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet in the People's Republic of ChinaThe first connection of the mainland of the People's Republic of China with the Internet was established on between ICA Beijing and Karlsruhe University in Germany, under the leadership of Prof. Werner Zorn and Prof. Wang Yunfeng. Since then the Internet in China has grown to host the largest base...
- List of Chinese dissidents
- List of notable websites blocked in the People's Republic of China
- List of words censored by search engines in the People's Republic of China
- Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of ChinaMinistry of Public Security of the People's Republic of ChinaThe Ministry of Public Security , is the principal police and security authority of the mainland of the People's Republic of China and the government agency that exercises oversight over and is ultimately responsible for day-to-day law enforcement...
- Political dissidents
External links
- Forbes article
- Yahoo implicated in Jiang Lijun's arrest - IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....