Harvard Fellow, Dr. Yang Jianli has been cited among the top 100 Chinese Public Intellectuals of 2009. Each year this recognition is given by an ad hoc committee of 20 well-known Chinese scholars from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The purpose of the recognition is to document the work of citizens whose efforts have stimulated scholarly debate through their writings and communications. Particular emphasis was given to those scholars who utilized the Internet to circulate ideas and issues with Chinese society.
Among Yang’s contributions were his leadership of the Fifth Interethnic/Interfaith Leadership Conference held in Washington, DC last October and a month long interactive webcast for Chinese citizens to discuss the 20th Anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Pro Democracy Movement.
Most recently Yang assumed leadership of the popular web based magazine, Yibao, which publishes scholarly articles on political and social developments in China.
Liu Xiaobo, the recently imprisoned intellectual and author of the Charter 08, a widely distributed treatise calling for political reform in China, was also recognized in the top 100 list.