Speech at the Amnesty International Northeast Region Conference

Boston University, November 9, 2002

Christina Fu

This should be a happy moment, because it is a celebration of 30th anniversary of the Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network. But to me, it is a difficult and emotional moment, as I'm thinking of my husband in faraway China, but knowing where he is and how he is.

Thank you all for giving me this honor to be with you and to know you, and also to tell you about my husband, Yang Jianli. When Mr. Rubenstein kindly invited me to this important conference in September. Without hesitation, I accepted it. At that time, I had a hope that my husband would have come home already and he would be the one to speak here, not me, and we could celebrate this return.

I really wish the news were different today. I'm extremely sad and distressed to fact the cruel reality that after six and half months, my husband is still being held in China.

My husband left home in the early morning of April 18, entered China on April 19. Then he traveled as many places as could from Beijing to Northeast then to Southwest. He was captured in Kunming airport of Yunnan province, after seven days he was in China. The next day after he was detained in a hotel, I had a chance to talk to him on the phone. At that time, there were two police officers were with him and they were waiting for an order from their leaders about what to do. My husband told me that he might not stay there for long, and pretty soon he could be transferred to a different place. That was Saturday, April 27 about 10:00 am. An hour later, I could not reach him anymore. I have lost contact with him since that day. In my attempts to find my husband, I few to China on May 23, I was detained for two hours in Beijing airport and forced back on the next flight.

As of today, the Chinese government has failed to comply with its own law to issue a notification to me about my husband's detention or arrest. Without the notification, we were also deprived of our rights for a defense lawyer.

The Chinese government might have mistakenly viewed my husband as anti-government activist and someone who would overthrow the Communist regime. But in my eyes, my husband is a peaceful man from head to toe. He is a loving husband and a loving father. I have known my husband for 20 years, when I think of him, I have in my mind a little boy in a rural country of China. It was during the Cultural Revolution, when he was about nine-year-old. As a little Red Guard, he was sent by his teacher to the street to capture farmers who were selling their produce, like fruits and vegetables, which was viewed as a form of Capitalism and was prohibited that time. When Jianli saw those vendors, he would quietly tell them to quickly run away before others catch and beat them. From that young age, he could deeply feel the pain and hardship people lived. I was very touched by his kind heart. I was also very impressed by his disobedience of authorities. When he realized that the authority was wrong, he chose to follow his conscience.

Over the past 10 years, my husband did a lot of researches and studies on Mahatma Gandhi and his theory of civil disobedience. He also went to India to meet the Dalai Lama to seek peaceful ways to solve conflicts between different ethnic groups. To promote human rights and democracy for China, he traveled extensively around the world and in the U.S. He has been to more than a dozen countries and about 30 states in the U.S.

The most difficult obstacle in my fight to win my husband's freedom it that Yang Jianli entered China illegally, and he broke the law, therefore deserves his punishment. I'm extremely, extremely grateful for the Amnesty International's Urgent Action Appeal, issued on August 23. It made it clear that my husband is a prisoner of conscience. The reason that Chinese government is holding him is not because of anything else, but simply because he is an outspoken advocate for human rights and democracy in China; and the extended incommunicado of him without a charge is a violation of international law.

Since the Urgent Action was issued, I have received widespread and heartwarming sympathy and support from around the world, especially the help from human rights organizations like Amnesty. Thank you very much.

When I walked in this hall, I was so touched and encouraged to see so many people here, especially after I met Ngawang here (a Tibetan who was recently released from prison in China), a new hope is growing inside of me. I'm confident that someday we will be here to celebrate my husband's freedom.

When I was lobbying the Congress on the Capital Hill a few months ago, a congressional staff talked me. Referring to an official at the State Department, he said that "you should trust this guy implicitly, you know that, he used to work for the Amnesty." That was when I know how much respect government people have for you. Here I am today with an implicit trust on you, and an admiration to your commitment, your persistence and perseverance to make a different. But most precious of all is your heart and compassion to the people who need help that made me so impressed.

Today, I need your help, my husband needs your help, and my daughter and son need your help. Please lend your helping hand!

Thank you very much.

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Source: "yangjianli.com".