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Xiyue Wang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The native form of thispersonal nameisWang Xiyue.This article usesWestern name orderwhen mentioning individuals.
Xiyue Wang
Wang huggingUnited States Ambassador to Switzerland and LiechtensteinEd McMullenin December 2019
Born(1980-12-31)December 31, 1980(age 43)
Beijing,China
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Washington
Harvard University
Princeton University

Xiyue Wang(Chinese:Vương tịch việt;pinyin:Wáng Xīyuè;born December 31, 1980) is aChinese-Americanacademic[1]who was imprisoned inIranfrom 2016 to 2019 after being accused ofespionage.[2][3]

Iran released Wang in a prisoner swap between the two countries, with the U.S. freeing Iranian scientistMassoud Soleimani.[4]U.S. law enforcement arrested the Iranian stem cell scientist in Fall 2018 upon his landing in Chicago for violating the sanctions against Iran. APhDcandidate in the Department ofHistoryatPrinceton University,Wang was arrested in Iran on 8 August 2016 on charges of espionage while he was conducting research on theQajar dynasty.[3]It was alleged that he had sought access to confidential areas ofTehranlibraries, paid thousands of dollars for access, and recorded 4,500 pages of digital documents.[5][6]

In July 2017, he was sentenced to ten years in prison byIran.[3][7]In response to the sentencing, theUnited States Department of Statereleased a press statement saying "The Iranian regime continues to detain US citizens and other foreigners on fabricated national-security related charges."[3][7]

In January 2021, Wang joined theAmerican Enterprise Instituteas aJeane KirkpatrickFellow.[8]

Early life

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Wang was born on December 31, 1980, inBeijing,China.[9]He earned a BA inSouth Asianstudies from theUniversity of Washington,attendedHarvard Universityfrom 2006 to 2008, then later worked for theInternational Committee of the Red CrossinAfghanistan.[3][10][11]At Princeton, his thesis adviser was historianStephen Kotkin.[3]

Detention in Iran

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In 2015, Iran gave Wang a visa to study Persian at an institute in northern Tehran. His goal was to do archival research during the trip, for a possible dissertation on nomads on Iran'sTurkmenfrontier more than 100 years ago.[11]Wang received $8,500 from Princeton's history department to go to Iran, as well as no more than $8,800 from the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.[1]

Wang disappeared in August 2016. His wife Hua Qu was notified of his detainment by a local Iranian lawyer.[2]

While in prison, Wang faced harsh conditions and did not even have room to straighten his back.[2]

According to Wang's wife, he was not warned that American citizens should not travel to Iran.[2]

In an interview withBBC Persianafter he was released, Wang described his captors as having been explicit about their intent, frankly telling him that he is taken "hostage" to be used for a prisoner swap and to force the US government to release seized Iranian assets.[12]In an article published inThe Atlantic,[11]Wang considers his forty months of prison in Iran as a time to revise his opinion of the Iranian government; he came to believe that Iran's current situation is not “all because of something we did wrong to them”.

“I slowly saw: They don’twantto be our friends. They don’twantto reconcile. They say it clearly [in state propaganda]. They want us as an enemy, because that is the reason for their existence.”[11]

In December 2019, it was announced that Wang would be released in a prisoner swap after three years in prison.[13]

Free Xiyue Wang movement

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Wang speaks at theNational Press Clubin 2021.

In July 2017, theAmerican Council on Educationand 31 other higher education and research associations issued a statement calling for Wang's release.[14]More than 1,000 researchers from 25 countries signed a petition also calling for his safe return.[15][16]

On September 21, 2018, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that "there was no legal basis for the arrest and detention of Mr. Wang. His deprivation of liberty is arbitrary."[17]

On February 15, 2019, Princeton students held a Free Xiyue Wang Day event.[18]

On December 7, 2019, Iran announced the release of Wang in exchange for an Iranian scientist,Masoud Soleimani,held by the United States.[19]

Post-prison Activities

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Since his return to the United States, Wang has been vocal in his criticism of the Iranian regime and regime's appeasement by Biden's administration andprogressiveacademics.[11][20][21][22][23]After his return to Princeton, Wang has described Iran-friendly academics, including those who encouraged him to go to Iran, unsympathetic with some of them blaming the ordeal on Trump's administration despite the fact that Wang was arrested three months before Trump was elected.[11]Xiyue Wang supports the investigation of Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a professor at Oberlin College in OH, who has been recently accused of allegedly hiding information about the1988 massacreof political prisoners in Iran.

Regarding the January 2021 appointment ofRobert Malleyas special Iran envoy, Wang believes releasingAmerican prisoners in Iranwill not be a priority of Malley.[24][25]In aWall Street Journalpiece, Wang rejected the view that attributes Iran's hostility towards the U.S. to the1953 Iranian coup d'état,arguing that the Iranian regime's hostility is "self-perpetuated", "proactive", "integral to the regime’s identity" and "rooted in a fierce anti-Americanism enmeshed in its anti-imperialist ideology", as he witnessed firsthand during his time in Iran.[20]

Wang has advocated the maximum pressure policy and show of strength as leverages without which diplomacy with Iran and trying to re-enterJCPOAwould fail.[20][21]

Personal life

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Wang is married to Hua Qu (Chinese:Khúc hoa;pinyin:Qū Huà), and they have a son born in 2013.[2][26]His wife and son are Chinese citizens,[1]but a spokesperson of theChinese Foreign Ministryhas stated that Wang himself does not hold Chinese citizenship.[27]

Wang's mother has American citizenship. In 2001 he moved to the US with her. He became a naturalized citizen in 2009.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcd"Frequently asked questions about Xiyue Wang".Princeton University.Retrieved2019-07-03.
  2. ^abcdeQu, Hua (2019-05-24)."My husband Xiyue Wang is unjustly imprisoned in Iran".The Washington Post.Retrieved2019-10-08.
  3. ^abcdefCunningham, Erin; Morello, Carol (July 16, 2017)."Iran sentences Princeton graduate student to 10 years for espionage, report says".The Washington Post.RetrievedJuly 17,2017.
  4. ^Eliza Mackintosh; Maija-Liisa Ehlinger; Jennifer Hansler (7 December 2019)."American student held prisoner since 2016 released in US-Iran prisoner swap".CNN.Retrieved2019-12-08.
  5. ^Adam Schreck (18 July 2017)."SCHOLAR DEFENDS CHINESE-AMERICAN RESEARCHER JAILED IN IRAN".Dubai: Macau Daily Times.
  6. ^Gambrell, Jon (26 November 2017)."Iran TV airs stories targeting 2 detained dual nationals".Associated Press.Retrieved26 November2017.
  7. ^abDehghan, Saeed Kamali (July 16, 2017)."Iran sentences Chinese-born American to 10 years in jail on spying charges".The Guardian.RetrievedJuly 17,2017.
  8. ^"Release: Wang Xiyue joins AEI as a Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow".American Enterprise Institute - AEI.Retrieved2021-04-10.
  9. ^"Đệ tam cá tại lao ngục trung đích sinh nhật phổ lâm tư đốn tái hô hu thích phóng vương tịch việt".Voice of America(in Chinese). 2019-01-01.Retrieved2019-04-12.
  10. ^Calamur, Krishnadev."The Princeton Student Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison in Iran".The Atlantic.Retrieved2 August2017.
  11. ^abcdefWood, Graeme (2021-03-17)."The Princeton Historian Mugged by Reality".The Atlantic.Retrieved2021-04-09.
  12. ^"ژیائو وانگ: بازجویان ایرانی میخواستند فقط به یک چیز اعتراف کنم".BBC News فارسی(in Persian).Retrieved2021-04-09.
  13. ^Williams and Givetash, Abigail and Linda (December 7, 2019)."American student Xiyue Wang freed in prisoner swap after three years in Iran jail".NBC.
  14. ^"Statement by Higher Education Organizations on the Imprisonment of Xiyue Wang".American Council on Education.July 31, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 2019-06-30.
  15. ^"Princeton supporting graduate student sentenced to prison in Iran".princeton.edu.July 31, 2017.
  16. ^"Academic Statement for the Release of Xiyue Wang".American Historical Association.July 31, 2017.
  17. ^"Opinion No. 52/2018 concerning Xiyue Wang (Islamic Republic of Iran)".21 September 2018.Retrieved9 March2018.
  18. ^"Day of Action: Free Xiyue Wang | Department of History".history.princeton.edu.Retrieved2019-07-03.
  19. ^Staff, A. O. L."Iran frees American graduate student for U.S.-held Iranian scientist".AOL.com.
  20. ^abcXiyue, Wang (2021-02-24)."Opinion | What I Learned in an Iranian Prison".Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.Retrieved2021-04-09.
  21. ^abXiyue, Wang (2021-04-01)."Trying to Re-Enter the Iran Deal Without Pressure Would Be a Mistake".The National Interest.Retrieved2021-04-09.
  22. ^Wang, Xiyue."@XiyueWang9".Twitter.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-04-10.
  23. ^Wang, Xiyue."@XiyueWang9".Twitter.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-04-06.
  24. ^"راب مالی نماینده ویژه آمریکا در امور ایران شد، اولین گفتگو با مقامهای ارشد اروپایی انجام شد".BBC News فارسی(in Persian).Retrieved2021-04-09.
  25. ^Wang, Xiyue."@XiyueWang9".Twitter.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-04-09.
  26. ^Bischoff, Christian (2017-09-18)."'He's Doing Poorly,' Says Wife of Princeton Student Jailed in Iran ".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2019-07-03.
  27. ^"2017 niên 7 nguyệt 17 nhật ngoại giao bộ phát ngôn nhân lục khảng chủ trì lệ hành ký giả hội".RetrievedJanuary 11,2019.
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