The daughter of the military doctor who blew the whistle on China's SARS cover-up last year fears her father's disappearance is no temporary muzzling but that he has been detained and is about to be charged.
Jiang Yanyong (蔣彥永), who disappeared on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, upset the authorities after writing a letter to top leaders in February asking for a reappraisal of the 1989 pro-democracy protests crushed by the army with heavy loss of life.
"The authorities were gradually building up to their final retaliation against him, possibly in the form of connecting him with overseas hostile organizations and charging him with subversion," daughter Jiang Rui (
Analysts said authorities fear if Jiang Yanyong, a hero to many Chinese for exposing the SARS cover-up, is not silenced, others might dare to speak up about the student-led Tiananmen Square protests.
Jiang and his wife disappeared on June 1.
"The public interpretation of my parents' disappearance has been that they were rounded up with the many other dissidents in Beijing, but would be released again as soon as June 4th had passed," Jiang Rui said.
"However, while others were being released, the authorities were asking my brother for my father's dentures," she said, suggesting the semi-retired surgeon may be held longer.
"Now it seems that they merely used the June 4th event as a smokescreen to buy time, perhaps for interrogation purposes, using ... time to wear down my 72-year-old father without too much public pressure," the daughter said.
She said it was "inhumane" to detain her parents without letting her and her brother know their whereabouts.
A government investigation has focused on how Jiang's letter was leaked to foreign media, she said.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS