The letter, written in 2011, has been given to the media by a friend, the Sydney academic Dr Feng Chongyi, after it became apparent that Yang would not be released anytime soon. In the letter, Yang urges activists to “maintain belief in China’s democratic future, and, when it doesn’t put yourself or your family at risk, to use all your means to push China’s democratic development to happen sooner”. He implores his supporters to push for “freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and justice to occur sooner” in China.
