The following letter was sent by members of the China Is Not Our Enemy Working Group to three University of Michigan postdoctoral researchers who have been federally targeted and charged with “smuggling” without credible evidence. They continue to be held in inhumane conditions in a federal facility as they await their hearings. Learn more here.
Dear Scholar Heroes Xu Bai, Fengfan Zhang, & Zhiyong Zhang,
We write to you in solidarity as a group of peace activists across the United States who have been closely following your situation and hoping for your quick release. We are all deeply sorry that you were subjected to unfair targeting and investigation when it is clear you had no malicious intent. You have worked very hard and have done amazing work in the field of biology, and the harm done to you by this situation is terrible and deeply unfair.
When countries collaborate on science, it advances all of humanity and creates more cooperation, which is desperately needed during this time of division. There are so many big scientific challenges facing the world community today, like climate change and food insecurity. Your work is needed all over the world, and we are saddened to lose the knowledge and scientific contributions that you would have made in our country.
We are a large community in the U.S., and we are here for you. We stand with you in solidarity as citizens from all over the country, in communities big and small, and we will not stop thinking about you until you are free. We know you are strong because, as scholars, you have honed your skills in the fires of academia. It's not easy to become a graduate-level scholar—it requires dedication, focus, and intellectual strength, and we know these tools you have acquired in your many years of study have kept you sane, balanced, and hopeful.
As we stand with you, you also teach us about being dignified in the face of challenges and holding strong, even when the system continues to try and keep you down. You are an inspiration to us all. Rest assured that your wrongful imprisonment is calling on social justice activists from all over our country to take a stand in your name. We are deeply hopeful that we can build a future where the US and China work together for a better world. The first step is ensuring that people know China is not our enemy, and neither are you. You have merely been caught in the crossfire of a corrupt U.S. government bent on going to war.
Many of us have visited China and hold warm memories of the kindness of strangers, and we are saddened that you have been mistreated in our country. We hold China in our hearts as an inspiration for how the world can be. We long for peace and harmony between all countries, and liberation for all humans, including you.
We hope that you take care and continue to remain strong. You will continue to be on our minds and in our hearts.
In solidarity,
Megan, Linda, Jodie, John, Kathleen, Jessica, Dana, Mark, Jane, Anlin, Annette, and the CODEPINK Team
