感谢大家群策群力，草稿已出炉，欢迎大家讨论，补充和提出修改意见。暂定今明两日收集意见，后天定稿发出。并寻求以下帮助：

1. 收集美联社及转载媒体的联系方式。

2. 要不要大家联名？先投下票要不要联名吧。联名的话，愿意署真名的筒子们可将真名发到我信箱：aiai.young@gmail.com；愿意署网名的筒子们可跟帖联署。

3. 征英文好的人才，中文好的人才，proofreading 人才，及翻译人才。

Dear Sir or Madam,

We are a group of individuals who read the news report titled “Lawyer: Deal reached to care for paralyzed gymnast” By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press.  After reading that report, we felt that some of the important statements in that report are inaccurate and misleading.  And we would like to share our thoughts and some key facts that the reporter might have missed. And 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."

What we found: the statment of "(TIG) will provide up to $10 million in cash" is not true, and "(TIG) will provide health care over the lifetime of Sang Lan" is what she already got in 1998.  In other words, what Sang Lan is eligible for now is exactly the same as the benefit that the original insurance policy granted 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 big 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 what TIG stated.

Also, Richard stated that TIG denied all the allegations that Sang Lan made in her complaint, since they didn't do anything wrong; TIG has been paying for Sang Lan's medical expense claims in the past 13 years, fully in compliance with the insurance policy. Richard 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."

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 Richard 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."

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 the insurance company.  Other than that, she got another $50,000 (in USD) from General Administration of Sports of China.

- 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 monthly income for a white collar in China is about $500.

- 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 $600-$770 USD (depending on the foreign exchange rate), which translates to $7,200-$9,200 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.""

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?

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

- She sued US Gymnastic Federation, which gave her help after she 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 American family (Kao Sung Liu, Gina Hiu-Hung Liu and their son Winston Sie).

And here're some facts about the American family:
-Who are they?  They are the family that voluntarily took care of Sang Lan for 10 months after her fell in 1998. To save the donation Sang Lan got for her future days, they didn't even hire anybody. Instead, they did everything for free for 10 months. Furthermore, they are the major donor of the above-mentioned trust fund for Sang Lan.
- And how much is Sang Lan asking for? ONE BILLION dollars.
- What did the American family do? They can probably write a book about it. 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.  And in 2008 she even came to US and specifically visited Liu family to thank them.

"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 do hope that you will be able to disclose the information we provided here, to make your coverage of the case accurate and to make the picture complete.

Thank you for your time.  We look forward to your response. Please feel free to contact us at aiai.young@gmail.com.