Writer Yang Tianshui's Status, Location Unknown a Month After Officials Detain Him

November 28, 2006

The Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) reported (in Chinese) on December 25 that public security officials in Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, took freelance writer Yang Tongyan into custody on December 23. Yang is an ICPC member who is also known as Yang Tianshui. According to the ICPC, Yang served a 10-year prison sentence from 1990 through 2000 after being convicted of "counterrevolution."

The Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) reported (in Chinese) on December 25 that public security officials in Nanjing city, Jiangsu province, took freelance writer Yang Tongyan into custody on December 23. Yang is an ICPC member who is also known as Yang Tianshui. According to the ICPC, Yang served a 10-year prison sentence from 1990 through 2000 after being convicted of "counterrevolution." Yang was one of at least nine prominent intellectuals and activists whom Chinese authorities either detained or imprisoned in November and December 2004. Authorities detained Yang on December 24, 2004, in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, but released him on bail on January 24, 2005.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on January 17 that authorities are holding Yang on suspicion of endangering national security, and have denied him access to a lawyer on the grounds that his case involves "state secrets." CPJ also reported that Yang's family has not been informed about any details of his case, including where he is being held or whether he has been formally arrested. According to CPJ, Yang continued to write after his release last year for news Web sites based outside of China, including Boxun and Epoch Times. CPJ said Yang's writings were "strongly critical of authoritarian rule in China," and that he advocated the release of imprisoned Chinese writers Zhang Lin and Zheng Yichun.