“The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes in all these signals from abroad. If there is enough support behind the case, there will be an effort to try to get it off the agenda of Sino-U.S. relations,” Cohen said.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is scheduled to visit the U.S. this October, making Yang’s release more likely.

“Nobody wants to mar a state visit by not being able to turn to important issues because a case like this is getting in the way,” Cohen said.

And Yang’s ties to Harvard will also likely aid in his release.

“China cares a good deal about Harvard,” Cohen said. “In low-profile cases, the Chinese government can get away with [illegal detention without trial]. In this case, in the long run, they cannot get away with it. But in the short run, it’s going to require a lot of work from Christina.”

Dedicated to Democracy

Yang heads the Boston-based think tank Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which advocates for democracy and constitutional rule of law in China—a more research-based approach to his pro-democracy work.

He had previously been an active dissident in the U.S, chairing the U.S. branch of the Federation for Pro-Democracy in China.

While running the foundation, Yang was also working towards a doctorate, studying mathematical approaches to politics with Ramsey Professor of Political Economy Richard J. Zeckhauser ’62.

Yang holds a Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Fu said that Yang was transformed after his experience with the Tiananmen Square protests into someone “completely dedicated” to his cause.

“I really don’t understand why he had to go back,” she said of his trip. “But he had been studying and doing research. He was so far away when something was going on, and he wanted to be there.”

Fu said her husband saw the movements in the northeast as on par with the rallies of 1989.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to wait till I’m 50 years old to do something,’” Fu said. “He had been so frustrated and so depressed, having no control over what he could do [because he was banned from the country].”

Fu, at home with her and Yang’s two children, said most people cannot understand why Yang felt he had to leave for China—including her seven-year-old son, Aaron.

“He feels bad when people ask him if his father is in jail. I have to tell him that things are different in China,” she said. “A good person can be in jail.”

—Staff writer Eugenia B. Schraa can be reached at schraa@fas.harvard.edu.