Yang Jianli

Dr. Yang Jianli "is Founder and President of Initiatives for China and was born in Shandong Province in northern China. A graduate of Beijing Normal University, Dr. Yang is widely recognized as a leading voice and visionary among human rights and democracy advocates. He is co-author of a constitution for a democratic China, created the Inter-ethic Leadership Conference, and is the founder of China E-Weekly magazine."

"A scholar in Chinese democratic constitutional theory, Dr. Yang Jianli participated in the June 4th Tiananmen Square prodemocracy demonstrations in 1989, after which he was blacklisted by the Chinese government and was forced to live in exile for his political activism. In 1990, Dr. Yang founded the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which produces the Web magazine ChinaEWeekly.com and the book series China in the 21st Century.   He earned a doctorate in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley (1991) and a second doctorate, in political economy and government, from Harvard University (2001). Dr. Yang returned to China in 2002 and was arrested and sentenced to a five-year prison term.  After his release in 2007, he returned to the US to continue his work. He is now President of Initiatives for China, a group with offices in Boston and Washington dedicated to the long term goal of building a constitutional democracy in China."


 * Chair, Foundation for China in the 21st Century

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