Xiong Yan (dissident)

Xiong Yan (Chinese: 熊焱; born 1 September 1964) is a Chinese-American human rights activist, military officer, and Protestant chaplain. He was a dissident involved in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.[7] Xiong Yan studied at Peking University Law School from 1986–1989. He came to the United States of America as a political refugee in 1992, and later became a chaplain in U.S. Army, serving in Iraq.[4][8] Xiong Yan is the author of three books, and has earned six degrees.[5] He ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district in 2022, and his campaign was reportedly attacked by agents of China's Ministry of State Security.[9]

For other people named Xiong Yan, see Xiong Yan (disambiguation).

Xiong Yan
Xiong image taken by Voice of America
Xiong in Army Service Uniform
Native name
熊焱
Born (1964-09-01) 1 September 1964
Shuangfeng, China[1]
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1994[2]–1996[3]
1996–2003 (Reserve)
2003[4]–present
Rank Major[5][6]
UnitFort Bliss
Warrant Officer Career College, Fort Rucker
1st Cavalry Division
Battles/warsOperation Iraqi Freedom
Alma materPeking University
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
University of North Carolina
Covenant Theological Seminary
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Other workStudent protest leader

Dissident

Growing up in Hunan, he moved to Beijing to pursue graduate level studies in law at Peking University.[10] He was a probationary member of the Chinese Communist Party.[11] While at Peking University, he was a member of Caodi Salon, which Liu Gang had organized.[12]

Yan was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[10] At one point, he called himself "general commander".[13] After the crackdown at Tiananmen Square, he was placed on China's most wanted list.[14][15] Captured in late June 1989 at Datong,[14] he was returned to Beijing under armed guard of hundreds of soldiers.[16] Afterwards, he was detained for 19 months at maximum security Qincheng Prison without being charged with a crime.[5][8]

After his release, Yan's academic credentials were stripped from him, and he was unable to obtain identification.[2][10] During this period he converted to Christianity having met a member of an underground church.[17] He fled mainland China in May 1992.[10] After being granted political asylum he moved to the United States in June 1992, initially moving to the Los Angeles area.[18] He remains a fugitive of mainland China.[19]

After leaving China

Moving to Boston, he studied English at Harvard University and was accepted into its divinity school but declined its admission.[20] He later attended Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary;[11] eventually he earned a D.Min. degree from the same seminary in 2009.[20][21] He is active in the overseas China democracy movement.[22] In 2009, he made a trip to Hong Kong to attend a candlelight vigil on the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.[23] It was estimated that 150,000 people attended the vigil.[24] This was the first time, within a 17-year time span, for Yan to return to China since 1992.[19]

In 2010, Chai Ling and he were panel members at a discussion on China's One-child policy held at Rayburn House Office Building.[25]

In 2015, after receiving word that his mother's health was failing, Yan appealed to mainland China to be allowed to return to see her before she dies;[26] he was detained when trying to cross into China from Hong Kong, and was unable to see her before she died.[27] In 2017, when a United Kingdom diplomatic cable was declassified, which estimated that about 10,000 civilians were killed, Xiong agreed with the account.[28]

Xiong Yan was listed as a member of the preparatory committee of the Wang Dan's June 4th Memorial Museum. On February 4th, he published a statement protesting against the inclusion of his name in the committee.[29] On February 16th, Xiong Yan participated in an event organized by an overseas Chinese group against the June 4th Memorial Museum.[30]

Military service

Yan went on to join the United States Army[2] while working on a second bachelor's degree, studying at the University of North Carolina.[31] He graduated with a B.A. in English Literature in 1998.[21] By 1999, he was a sergeant in the Army Reserve.[31] He went on to earn an M.A. degree from the Covenant Theological Seminary in 2001 and a Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.) degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2002.[21] Serving eight years in the Army Reserve, he was commissioned as an officer in 2003.[4] He serves as a Protestant chaplain of the Evangelical Church Alliance denomination.[20] In 2010, he was a chaplain at the Warrant Officer Career College on Fort Rucker.[4] In 2014, Yan was stationed at Fort Bliss.[20]

Yan served two tours in Iraq.[32] Xiong has considered running for Congress in the future, after he retires from the Army.[26] In 2017, Xiong was stationed in Hawaii.[33]

Congressional campaign

He ran for Congress in New York's 10th congressional district[34] as a Democrat.[35] The United States Department of Justice has reported that his campaign was attacked by agents of China's Ministry of State Security,[36] including surveillance, and discussion of possible smear campaigns, honey trapping and physical attacks.[37][38]

Personal life

Xiong is married to Qian Liyun.[1] She was arrested along with Shen Tong due to activity relating to the Democracy for China Fund in 1992;[39] they were released and sent to the United States.[40] In the United States, Liyun also joined the Army.[41]

See also

References
  1. Asia Watch Committee (U.S.) (1 January 1994). Detained in China and Tibet: A Directory of Political and Religious Prisoners. Human Rights Watch. p. 474. ISBN 978-1-56432-105-3.
  2. Beck, Simon (8 January 1995). "Concern grows over secret ban ; Rights chief puts exiles on agenda". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015. Xiong Yan, 31. Former student leader. Arrested in Beijing and served two years in jail before leaving China in 1992. Now in US Army. Chair of the Chinese Freedom and Democracy Party.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "Tiananmen, 15 Years On". Human Rights Watch. 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2015. He served two years, 1994–96, in the U.S. army before immersing himself in a divinity school doctoral program.
  4. C. Todd Lopez (4 June 2010). "Chaplain remembers Tiananmen Square on anniversary". Army News Service. United States Army. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  5. "Chaplain (Major) Xiong Yan's Bio" (PDF). Committee Repository. United States House of Representatives. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  6. "Chaplain promotion list for majors announced". Army Times. 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  7. "Report to Congress Concerning Extension of Waiver Authority for the People's Republic of China". The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. U.S. Government Publishing Office. 28 May 1993. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  8. Mosher, Stacy (26 May 2004). "Tiananmen's Most Wanted—Where Are They Now?". Human Rights in China. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  9. Chinese agent tried to undermine Tiananmen Square dissident’s congressional campaign in Long Island: feds.
  10. McMillan, Penelope (29 June 1992). "Chinese Dissident Holds Fast to Ideals : Protest: Despite beatings and imprisonment, student leader seeking asylum in U.S. remains committed to China's pro-democracy movement". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  11. Andrew, Jacobs (4 June 2014). "Tiananmen's Most Wanted". New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2015. A graduate law student at Peking University and a probationary Communist Party member in 1989, Mr. Xiong was among those chosen to negotiate with the government.
  12. Dingxin Zhao (5 December 2008). The Power of Tiananmen: State-Society Relations and the 1989 Beijing Student Movement. University of Chicago Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-226-98262-5.
  13. Dingxin Zhao (5 December 2008). The Power of Tiananmen: State-Society Relations and the 1989 Beijing Student Movement. University of Chicago Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-0-226-98262-5.
  14. Repression in China Since June 4, 1989: Cumulative Data. Human Rights Watch. 1 January 1990. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-929692-74-6.
  15. "Record Turnout At Hong Kong Tiananmen Vigil". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Reuters. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2015. "Hong Kong is a part of China and can influence China more than any country, more than any place," said Xiong, who was one of 21 people placed on Beijing's "most wanted list" in 1989.
  16. Zhang Boli (27 May 2003). Escape from China: The Long Journey From Tiananmen to Freedom. Simon and Schuster. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7434-3161-3. They carried the story on TV of his being sent back under escort to Beijing. The hundreds of helmeted soldiers carrying rifles and ammunition seemed shadowed by this heroic man as he stepped fearlessly off the train.
  17. Wiser, Daniel (30 May 2014). "Tiananmen Square Witnesses Push for Human Rights, Democratic Reforms in China". Washington Free Beacon. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  18. Holley, David (13 July 1992). "30 Chinese Dissidents Reportedly Arrested". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  19. Leitsinger, Miranda (4 June 2009). "One of Tiananmen's 'most wanted' returns to China". CNN. United States. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
    "Xiong Yan". Nine to Noon (Podcast). Radio New Zealand. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  20. Brown, Wendy (4 September 2014). "From Tiananmen Square to Fort Bliss: Bliss chaplain knows spiritual fitness". Bugle. Fort Bliss, Texas. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  21. Boyer, N. W. (4 June 2010). "Xiong Yan..from Chinese Prison to U.S. Army Chaplain". Boyer Writes. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  22. New York Democracy Activists Commemorate Anniversary of June 4th Incident Archived September 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine Voice of America
  23. "Memory of Tiananmen burns brightly in Hong Kong, 2009". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 4 June 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
    Ian Jeffries (23 July 2010). Political Developments in Contemporary China: A Guide. Routledge. p. 1251. ISBN 978-1-136-96519-7.
    Cha, Ariana Eunjung; Ng, K.C. (5 June 2009). "Tiananmen Anniversary Muted in Mainland China". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  24. Wang, Tina (4 June 2009). "Struggle Against Forgetting June 4". Forbes. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
    "Slideshow Hong Kong Remembers 1989". Frontline. WGBH Educational Foundation. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  25. Philips, Michelle (2 June 2010). "Women forced to abort under China's one-child policy". Washington Times. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  26. Shu, Jeff (14 April 2015). "Former Chinese Protester Seeking Emergency Return Home". VOA News. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  27. C.K.; Mudie, Luisetta (8 July 2015). "Former 1989 Student Leader Calls On Beijing Allow Him to Attend Mother's Funeral". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  28. Ping, Lin; Mudie, Luisetta (21 December 2017). "Chinese Army 'Spared No-one' in 1989 Mass Killings in Beijing: UK cables". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
    "Tiananmen Square massacre cable makes chilling '10,000 killed' claim". Newshub. New Zealand. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  29. "对流亡学运领袖熊焱的灵魂拷问". 21 February 2022.
  30. "学运领袖熊焱现身反对六四纪念馆(组图)". Ming Pao. 19 February 2022.
  31. Singer, Rena (3 June 1999). "Tiananmen Students Continue Fight In Exile Many Are Preparing To Return One Day To China To Work To Promote Democracy". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  32. David Aikman (27 March 2012). Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power. Regnery Publishing, Incorporated, An Eagle Publishing Company. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-59698-652-7.
  33. Yan, Xiong (14 July 2017). "Footsteps in Faith: There is power in positive thinking". Hawai'i Army Weekly. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  34. "Yan Xiong for Congress". yanxiongforcongress2022.com.
  35. Ledda, Brianne (20 February 2022). "With lines redrawn for Congressional districts, another candidate joins race for First District". Suffolk Times. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  36. O'Brien, Rebecca Davis (16 March 2022). "Chinese Officer Charged With Harassing N.Y. Congressional Candidate; Yan Xiong, a Chinese dissident who immigrated to America and is now a political candidate in New York, was targeted by an agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors said". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  37. "Chinese plot to smear US Congress hopeful unveiled". BBC News. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  38. Wolfe, Jan (16 March 2022). "U.S. Accuses Chinese Agent of Scheme to Undermine Long Island Congressional Candidate". Long Island Press. Reuters.
  39. "Beijing Charges Dissdent with 'Illegal Activity'". Deseret News. Utah. Associated Press. 3 September 1992. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
    Holley, David (1 September 1992). "Dissident Detained in China : Arrest: The case of Shen Tong, recently arrived from exile in the United States, could become an issue in the two countries' relations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  40. Asia Watch Committee (U.S.) (1 January 1994). Detained in China and Tibet: A Directory of Political and Religious Prisoners. Human Rights Watch. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-56432-105-3.
  41. Bob Fu; Nancy French (1 October 2013). God's Double Agent: The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom. Baker Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4412-4466-6.

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