I am Jin Bianling, the wife of lawyer Jiang Tianyong. Greetings from San Franciso to all my friends and wish you all a happy Chinese New Year!
Tianyong’s sentence shall end on February 28, which is only two dozen days from now. In spite of this, I feel nervous, I fear that “accident” may befall Tianyong at any time, and I will never see him again for the rest of my life.
Whenever I am too anxious to work, I look at my collection of news and messages about all the support and assistance to Tianyong from friends in China or of the international community. Reading these news and messages calms me down, and I assure myself that with support from so many friends, Tianyong will be able to walk out of prison alive!
During the Jasmine Incident in February 2011, Jiang Tianyong, Tang Jitian, Teng Biao and others were abducted and tortured.
After all those purges, I succumbed to depression and fled to the US. Although Tianyong had already completed the immigration application procedure, he did not leave with me.
Tianyong was not arrested in the 709 Crackdown in 2015, and he immediately began helping the families of the victims in secret. He was taken away in the end.
Yet, friends of Tianyong ventured once again to the frontline to his rescue! Had it not been the continuous concern, protest and support from the defence lawyers, 709 families, fellow human rights lawyers, international human rights organizations and friends from all over the world concerned about China, Tianyong’s would have probably been put under much more miserable circumstances.
A salute to all of you!
Especially to the 709 families in China – Li Wenzu, Liu Ermin, Yuan Shanshan and Wang Qiaoling, who sought to attend the trials in Changsha and encountered police violence. They accompanied my parents- and sister-in-law to visit Tianyong for countless times, even though they were harassed by police at each visit. In the face of intimidation, they show no fear. I pay tribute to my sisters!
A lot of friends have said they would pick up Tianyong outside the prison on February 28. My respects to all of them!
Hazy as the future remains, we support each other with love through difficult circumstances, and we are not intimidated by the predicament ahead!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Jin Bianling
on February 4, 2019