Dr. Jiang Yanyong passed away on March 12, 2023, at 15:39.
This news didn’t spread much online, and the few scattered articles were also 404.
It shouldn’t be like this.
Jiang Yanyong, born in 1931, entered Yenching University in 1949, and then entered Peking Union Medical College in 1952. He joined the Communist Party of China in the same year and the People’s Liberation Army in 1954, later working at the 301 Hospital.
Due to his father being a banker and having relatives in Taiwan, he was labeled a “counter-revolutionary” during the Cultural Revolution and was imprisoned for two years before being sent to a military horse farm in Qinghai to work.
In 1972, Jiang Yanyong was rehabilitated and returned to work at the 301 Hospital, later serving as the director of “General Surgery.” His medical ethics were widely praised, and in a 1991 issue of the foreign publication “Beijing Review,” he was called an “honest doctor.”
After retirement, Jiang Yanyong was re-employed as a member of the expert group.
In 1997, Jiang Yanyong wrote in the “History of Yenching University” compiled for the 80th anniversary of his alma mater: “I deeply understand that it is extremely difficult to tell the truth and what is in one’s heart. But I must insist on telling the truth. It is easiest to speak falsely and empty words, but I will never do so.”
He was consistent in his words and deeds.
In early 2003, SARS was rampant. Initially, the public didn’t understand what this disease was.
Jiang Yanyong learned the inside story through personal channels and was extremely anxious, especially the press conference on the afternoon of April 3, 2003, which made him extremely angry. The then Minister of Health announced that “as of March 31,” there were “12 cases in Beijing, with 3 deaths,” and repeatedly emphasized that the atypical pneumonia epidemic in some parts of China “had been effectively controlled.”
On the evening of April 4, Jiang Yanyong, based on the real data he learned from several hospitals, wrote an email of about 800 words and sent it to CCTV-4 and Phoenix TV.
In his letter, he wrote: “Today I went to the ward, and all the doctors and nurses were very angry after watching yesterday’s news.”
Neither email received a response.
On April 8, a reporter from The Wall Street Journal called for an interview. That evening, a Beijing-based reporter from Time magazine also interviewed him.
On April 9, Time magazine published an article titled “Beijing’s SARS Attack.”
On April 10, the WHO sent an expert team to Beijing to investigate.
On April 20, at a press conference, the then-deputy minister of health announced the number of confirmed and suspected cases in Beijing. On the same day, Xinhua News Agency released a report on the dismissal of relevant officials.
On April 22, when a reporter from Caijing visited Jiang Yanyong, he declined the interview request. When asked about the reason for writing the letter, he said: “I feel that if doctors don’t tell the truth, more people will die, and the country will suffer.”
Jiang Yanyong’s university classmate Zhu Chunwu told Sanlian Life Weekly, “What happened later told us that Jiang Yanyong was right. Many people I know said that Jiang Yanyong had made a great contribution. I know he doesn’t pursue these things, but in the hearts of the people, he is indeed a hero. In this event related to the interests of the country and the people, Professor Jiang fulfilled his responsibility as a doctor. At that time, under the premise that information might not be readily available, there might have been hundreds of people who knew more than him, but only he stood up.”
In the 2003 China’s Touching Figures selection, CCTV released some of the recommended candidates by netizens, and the netizen “Li Xiaoping” recommended Jiang Yanyong. He said: “Until today, the name of Jiang Yanyong is still unfamiliar to people. He is a very ordinary person, and he insisted on truth and justice with extraordinary courage, revealing the severity of SARS in Beijing. This led to the later dismissal of relevant officials and the daily disclosure of the SARS epidemic. In a sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that Jiang Yanyong is a hero of our time. Until now, he is still unknown.”
Unfortunately, he is still unknown to this day.
Of course, according to Jiang Yanyong’s character, he doesn’t care at all. “I am not a hero, as long as it is said that Jiang Yanyong is a person who speaks the truth. I have always believed that human life is the most important thing, and speaking the truth is the most important thing.”
Thank you, Dr. Jiang Yanyong.
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