博主注：网友也要发出自己的声音，媒体不能只是听到“海明说”，“桑兰说”。就这么简单，一点都不复杂。博主对广大网友的致谢和联署网友名单请见：https://www.sinovision.net/blog/aiai/details/86433.html

Dear Sir or Madam,

We are readers of your news article “Lawyer: Deal reached to care for paralyzed gymnast” dated July 12, 2011, written by Mr. Larry Neumeister, Associated Press. Most of us are are from north-america and mainland China, and have been reading the news about Sang Lan’s lawsuit for the past two months.

We write to request your attention to the inaccurate and misleading statements made by the lawyer for the paralyzed gymnast. We also request that you consider publishing a remedial report based on the information stated in the letter, as we believe any reputable and responsible news organization should do.

Below is an incomplete list of misleading or inaccurate statements in the report as well as the facts we discovered to challenge those statements.

1.      "The lawyer, Ming Hai, said he could not divulge details of the deal. Still, he said it will provide up to $10 million in cash and health care over the lifetime of the 30-year-old gymnast, Sang Lan." (underlines added)

What we found: the statement of "(TIG) will provide up to $10 million in cash" is misleading, and "(TIG) will provide health care over the lifetime of Sang Lan" is what she already got in 1998.  In other words, what is agreed in the settlement is no different from what had been stipulated in the original insurance policy in 1998.

Under the current insurance policy established in 1998, Sang Lan already has a coverage up to $10 million dollars, which of course is not in cash.  This information is available at https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html.  Unless there is a a cheque with a substantial dollar amount issued to Sang Lan (which was denied by TIG Insurance Company), Ming Hai’s statement about the "up to $10 million in cash"is evidently incorrect and obviously made to mislead the readers.

We have contacted TIG Insurance Company to verify Ming Hai's statement. The Director of Litigation Richard Fabian denied that TIG paid a fat cheque to Sang Lan. Apparently $10 million is a big dollar amount. Although both parties didn't disclose the amount of the monetary compensation, what Ming Hai said is contrary to TIG’s stated position. (For our investigatory work please refer to https://www.sinovision.net/blog/aiai/details/85691.html)

Also, Mr Fabian stated that TIG denied all the allegations that Sang Lan made in her complaint, since they didn't do anything wrong, nor did TIG make any apology to Sang Lan; TIG has been paying for Sang Lan's medical expense claims in the past 13 years, fully in compliance with the insurance policy. Mr Fabian also stated that Sang Lan's insurance policy has not been revised during the settlement.

Furthermore, some documents from TIG dated 1998 (please refer to https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html) already explained that what she got is a life-long insurance, and the injury-related medical expenses are eligible for claim. This is in agreement to TIG’s original agreement or insurance policy.  

2. "The settlement will provide money to cover Lan's health care in China.  Previously, her health care was paid for only in the United States." (underlines added)

What we found: Sang Lan's health care has been paid by three parties: TIG, the national health insurance in China and her employer in China, while most of the Chinese people only have coverage from the national health insurance.

First, as Mr Fabian stated, TIG has been paying her for her health care in compliance with her insurance policy. And that includes her eligible medical expenses in China.  Please refer to the explanation to the insurance policy (https://www.sinovision.net/blog/ksliu/details/85486.html)  

Second, Sang Lan herself have stated a few times (both in the past and recently), that she has medical expense coverage by the national health insurance in China according to the health plan's policy.

Third, again, Sang Lan stated before that her rehabilitation expenses (which is not an eligible expense for the above-mentioned health insurance in China) have been paid by her employer in China.

For Sang Lan's own statements about her medical expense coverage in China, please refer to her own blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_47420b930100cj4p.html

3. "He said she was staying ... for another month before returning to Beijing, where she will live with her boyfriend and continue to earn about $230 a month at speaking engagements and other public functions." (underlines added)

What we found: the above statement about her income in China is incorrect, and is contrary to what Sang Lan and her boyfriend have been saying in the past. Sang Lan has been living a very good life in China.  She is much wealthier than most of the Chinese people, and her monthly income is around $4,500 (in USD), which is much more than the $230 Ming Hai claimed.

According to their statements before (one example would be an interview conducted by a Chinese media; please refer to http://sports.cn.yahoo.com/10-08-/324/2bpa1.html ), following is a list of facts about Sang Lan's financial situation:
- She owns two real estate properties in China, both fully paid. And one of them is in Beijing, one of the cities with the highest real estate price in the world.

- In 1998, She was paid $50,000 (in USD) by TIG Insurance Company.  Other than that, she got another $50,000 (in USD) from General Administration of Sports of China.

- She has a good job, and her current monthly employment income is about $4,500 (in USD), which translates to an annual salary of $54,000 (in USD).  Please note that the average income for  people living in Beijing is about $2,700.

- There was a trust fund set up in 1998, with Sang Lan being the beneficiary. The fund raised $170,000 USD through donations in 1998. From 1998 to 2008, this fund had provided Sang Lan a monthly support in the amount of $500 USD, which translates to $6,000 USD a year. And in 2008, the trustees provided all the remaining fund (over $140,000 USD) to Sang Lan.

- She owns a Van.

- She hires a live-in home personal care attendant who gets paid $540 a month (she also accompanied Sang Lan to US this time).

On another note, according to Ming Hai's blog post, Sang Lan rented a single house with a swimming pool for her temporary place in New York, and paid $4,000 for the two-month stay.

4. ""Thirteen years ago she had a tragic fall that almost killed her," Hai said. "She got her life back again. The American people gave her a second life. She'll always remember that in her mind. She loves this country. She loves whatever this country has done for her."" (underlines added)

This is the most important part, and this is why we wrote to you. “We are not what we say; we are what we do.”  Ming Hai stated that Sang Lan thinks that the American people gave her a second life and she'll always remember that in her mind. But what did she do to American people?

Here’s what she did to American people (please refer to her complaint, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_857060240100siii.html):

- She sued US Gymnastic Federation, which gave her help after her fall in 1998. (the Gymnastic Federation was dismissed now)
- She sued the insurance companies, which have been paying for her medical expenses in 1998 and all the years until today. (the insurance companies were dismissed now)
- She sued an Chinese-American family (Kao Sung Liu, Gina Hiu-Hung Liu and their son Winston Sie).

And here're some facts about the Chinese-American family:
-Who are they?  They are the family that voluntarily took care of Sang Lan (who they didn't know at all) for 10 months after her accident in 1998. Although Sang Lan received generous donation and had funds to use for her home care expenses, the family decided to bring her into their own home and provided the most meticulous care, all by themselves, all for free, in order to save the funds for her future living. In fact, they themselves were the biggest donor of the above-mentioned trust fund for Sang Lan.

- What did the American family (the Liu family) do? They can probably write a book about all the effort and help they offered to Sang Lan during that 10 months. Long story short, from a third party's perspective, they didn't do anything obviously wrong. And most importantly, Sang Lan had been expressing her gratitude numerous times towards that American family in the past 13 years until she sued them this year.  And in 2008 she even came to US and specifically visited Liu family to thank them.

-What did Sang Lan say about the Liu family?  She has written several articles with deep gratitude to the Liu family.  In one of the articles she wrote, “At that critical point in 1998, aunt Hiu-hung treated me like her own daughter.  Like a mother cares for her child, she helped me in getting through that difficult time.”  (please refer to her own blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_47420b93010003f1.html)  

- And what has Sang Lan done for this family who took care of her for 10 months after the accident? A billion dollars law suit!

"Don't bite the hands that feed you." Sang Lan stated that she always remembers the American people who helped her. Based on the above things she did, does she really think so? Or suing the American people who helped her is her special way of remembering them in her mind & thanking them for their help?

All of the facts we stated in this note are solid and backed by evidence. And should you have any questions, or need more information, we are more than happy to assist you.  We understand that due to the language barrier, not all of the relevant information flows smoothly to the US media, and we will do what we can to let people know the true story.

We urge you to seriously consider our request that you publish a remedial report based on the information we have provided in this letter.

We thank you for your attention on this matter. If you have any further question, please feel free to contact us.  We can be reached at aiai.young@gmail.com. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Aiai Young, on behalf of (注：为隐私故，实名签名筒子们的姓名在此略去):

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