Dissident doctor brainwashed

last updated 8 January 2015

Beijing

Authorities in Beijing are forcing a prominent dissident physician to undergo “indoctrination” classes, The Washington Post reported this week. Jiang Yanyong, 72, a retired army surgeon, was the whistle-blower who became internationally famous two years ago when he exposed the Chinese government’s coverup of the SARS lung-disease epidemic. Jiang is reportedly being questioned about a letter he wrote to the communist leadership a few months ago denouncing the 1989 massacre of democratic activists in Tiananmen Square. The elderly doctor has been detained in a room under 24-hour surveillance and subjected to what sources have described as “brainwashing.” The government, which had not officially announced Jiang’s detention until confronted by the press, said he had “violated the relevant discipline of the military” and that the army was now “helping and educating him.”