Jiang Yanyong

Early Life

Jiang Yanyong was born on 4 October 1931 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and spent his career as a surgeon at the PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) in Beijing. He was targeted during the Cultural Revolution, rehabilitated in 1972 and returned to work at 301 Hospital, later rising to become Chief of General Surgery with the rank of Major General. He published more than 40 academic papers and authored monographs including Surgery of Primary Retroperitoneal Tumours.

Witnessing June Fourth

On the night of 3 June 1989 and into the early hours of 4 June, Jiang, then Chief of General Surgery at 301 Hospital, took part in treating casualties from the Tiananmen crackdown. On the morning of 4 June, a tank delivered two unconscious martial-law soldiers to the hospital's outpatient building; in the emergency room, Jiang learned they were believed to have been poisoned or gassed unconscious. He also personally corroborated reports that PLA troops had used expanding ('dum-dum') bullets against civilians. This first-hand experience became the direct motivation behind his repeated later calls for a reassessment of the June Fourth events.

The 2003 SARS Whistleblowing

On 3 April 2003, then Health Minister Zhang Wenkang publicly claimed that Beijing had only 12 SARS cases and 3 deaths. Shocked, Jiang wrote the following day to CCTV's international channel and Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, stating that Beijing alone had more than 100 cases, but neither outlet acted on it. Four days later, The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine reached out to him, and he made the true state of the epidemic public through the foreign press. On 20 April, Executive Vice Minister of Health Gao Qiang held a press conference confirming 339 confirmed and 402 suspected SARS cases in Beijing, vindicating Jiang's account. That same day, the Party removed Zhang Wenkang as the Health Ministry's party secretary and Meng Xuenong as Beijing's deputy party secretary and other municipal posts.

Detention and Later Years

On 1 June 2004, Jiang and his wife, Hua Zhongwei, were taken away by authorities while travelling to 301 Hospital; Hua was released after two weeks, and Jiang himself was released on 19 July, after which he remained under long-term surveillance and effective house arrest. That August, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation of the Philippines awarded him the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, citing his courage in exposing the truth about SARS and thereby saving lives; unable to travel to the Philippines because of his restricted movement, he had his daughter accept the award on his behalf. He continued to write to the central leadership calling for a reassessment of June Fourth, and was frequently placed under restriction around politically sensitive anniversaries. Jiang Yanyong died at the PLA General Hospital in Beijing on the afternoon of 11 March 2023, of cardiopulmonary failure brought on by influenza, at the age of 91.