Reading between the lines here it seems like this poor chap got caught up in the whole zeitgeist around the events of 1989, and being a bit simple, was both easy to arrest and easy to use to make the ‘counterrevolutionary’ charge quota.
And now he’s free. In a manner of speaking:
The 73-year-old suffers from Alzheimer’s and has no family or home to return to. His previous residence was sold in order to place his stepmother in a retirement home.
'Counter-revolutionary activities' ceased to be an offense under Chinese law in 1997, though this didn't lead to Mr Jiang's release at that time. There seem to be no details available of what circumstances was released into at the end of May. So far as I’m aware, while the students who led many of the protests were not treated in any way justly or humanely by the regime, their non student supporters seem to have been treated with measurably greater severity. This may have something to do with the fact that it seems to be impossible now for activists to mobilize general support for direct political challenges to the state.
Think about just how much money and credibility it costs to maintain the state of affairs that impedes activist mobilization.
Won't be forever...
Posted by: shah8 | June 02, 2013 at 01:02 AM