By Jerome A. Cohen
Like so many, I admired Professor Jiang Ping, and we seemed to have a special bond even though we seldom actually got together. It seemed to be based on our similar ages and our mutual concern for China’s legal profession. In many ways he was a courageous person as well as an influential developer of China’s civil law.
I greatly respected his decision to return to China despite June 4th, which occurred while he was abroad, in Hawaii, I believe. He was always supportive of attempts to defend the PRC’s criminal defense lawyers, and I liked his ability to retain his sense of humor in difficult circumstances. He made a great impact on my class when I invited him down to lecture at NYU while he was visiting at Columbia. His career encapsulated the PRC’s legal progress and problems from the early 1950s.
Even in death the Party seeks to benefit from Professor Jiang Ping and keep him under control. As experience in China has shown, funerals can sometimes provide the single spark that lights a prairie fire. Both the Supreme Court and the Supreme Procuracy sent tributes. I didn’t see anything from China’s lawyers association but there may well have been, if only discreetly. I hope someone will analyze the symbolism and significance of this occasion.