Joseph Kahn, writing for The New York Times based in Beijing, is a hell of a journalist. He has obviously developed good sources--the life-blood of serious journalism--in various camps, not the least of which are sources inside the CCP. The graphs with quotes excerpted below are worth a hearty "Well done."
[T]he decision to allow (Dr. Jiang Yanyong) to return home appears to amount to a rare victory for an individual who directly and repeatedly confronted China's Communist Party leaders. In a letter released in February, Dr. Jiang pressed government leaders to admit that the Tiananmen Square crackdown of June 1989 was wrong.
While there is no evidence that senior officials are reconsidering their stance that the crackdown was justified, the decision to detain and then release Dr. Jiang suggests that leaders are conflicted when handling high-level dissent on the issue. That may stimulate hopes that the party will sooner or later apologize for the violent suppression of the Tiananmen protesters.
"I think many people believe that detaining him was stupid," said a party official interviewed while Dr. Jiang was being held. "On the one hand, he can't be allowed to criticize without punishment. But on the other, party elders do not allow their own people to be punished for nothing. He is elderly, he has a certain status and he did nothing wrong."
