Wei Jingsheng.

Wei Jingsheng (Chinese: 魏京生; Pinyin：Wèi Jīngshēng; born May 20, 1950) is an activist in the Chinese democracy movement, most prominent for authoring the document, Fifth Modernization on the "Democracy Wall in Bejing in 1978. Source: http://www. ... Source: http://www. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... The Chinese democracy movement (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: , abbreviated as Mínyùn 民运) is a loosely organized political movement in mainland China against continued one-party rule by the Communist Party of China. ... Democracy Wall was a wall in the Xidan District in Beijing. ... The Democracy Wall was a long brick wall on Changan street in the Xidan District of Beijing, which became the focus for democratic dissent. ... (help· info) (IPA peiË© tɕɪŋ˦), a city in northern China (formerly known in western, democratic cultures as Peking or Peiking), is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

Biography

He had joined the Red Guards as a sixteen year old student during the Cultural Revolution. When Deng Xiaoping came to power and repudiated the Cultural Revolution, Wei Jingsheng, then a twenty-eight year old electrician in Beijing, attacked the dictatorship of the Communist Party of China, denouncing Deng and his will to maintain a dictatorship in China. Wei's and others' public dissent worried Deng who was anxious to consolidate his power. In the Peoples Republic of China, Red Guards (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong between 1966 and 1968, during the Cultural Revolution. ... This article is about the Peoples Republic of China. ... Deng Xiaoping   (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-ping; August 22, 1904 â€“ February 19, 1997) was a prominent Chinese politician, pragmatist and reformer, as well as the late leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC). ... Peking redirects here. ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China and also the worlds largest political party. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator. ... For the political magazine, see Dissent (magazine). ...

Wei Jingsheng was arrested March 29, 1979 for "divulgation of State secrets", and was condemned to 15 years of prison.^[1] He had also published a letter under his name in March 1979 denouncing the inhuman conditions of the Chinese Qincheng Prison, where the 10^th Panchen Lama was imprisoned.^[2] However, a major part of Wei's essay came from other anonymous authors with personal experiences involving Qincheng. Those parts were published by Wei without their consent. Mary Holzman declared that Wei completed his research and wrote his essay of investigative journalism within a week,^[3] which makes it highly doubtful that Wei wrote the essay himself, as he simply did not have the factual knowledge present in the text. is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Qincheng Prison (秦城监狱) is a maximum-security prison in located in the Changping District northwest of Beijing. ... Khedrup Je, the 1st Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama (often transliterated as Pänchen Lama) or the Panchen Erdeni, is the one of the two highest ranking lamas (together with the Dalai Lama) in the Gelugpa (Dge-lugs-pa) sect of Tibetan Buddhism (the sect which controlled Tibet from the...

Although they could not bring any formal charges against him for his attacks on the Communist system, the government exaggerated Wei's correspondence with foreigners about the Chinese-Vietnamese War and charged him with treason. He stayed in prison until 14 September 14 1993, when he was released because the PRC wanted to show their new openness before the International Olympic Committee [see Discussion section for an alternative reason proposed from Wei Jingsheng himself]. The Olympics were a huge event for Chinese nationalism and when they lost their bid to Sydney, Australia, the country was deflated. Wei, once again looked at as a scapegoat, was thrown in jail once more after China lost the Olympic bid. Charged with plotting against the state he was to remain in jail until November 16, 1997, when he was released for “medical reasons” and promptly deported to the United States. He was sent to the United States due to international pressure, especially the request by then US President, Bill Clinton. The Sino-Vietnamese War was a war fought in Vietnam. ... Stamp The International Olympic Committee (French: Comité International Olympique) is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on June 23, 1894. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...

Dissidents who are widely known in the West, such as Wei Jingsheng, Fang Lizhi, and Wang Dan are typically deported when the Chinese government is really under pressure. Although Chinese criminal law does not contain any provisions for exiling citizens, it is carried out informally by giving these well known dissidents a severe jail sentence and subsequently granting medical parole before sending them out in exile. For the Pearl Jam song, see Dissident (song). ... Fang Lizhi Chinese: 方励之; Hanyu Pinyin: (born February 12, 1936) was a professor of astrophysics and vice president of the University of Science and Technology of China whose teachings inspired the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. ... Deportation is the expelling of someone from a country. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... Medical parole is a form of parole which involves the release of a prisoner on the grounds that he or she is too ill to continue serving his or her prison sentence. ...

In 1996, Wei Jingsheng was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He is a winner of numerous other human rights and democracy awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1996, the National Endowment for Democracy Award in 1997, the Olof Palme Memorial Prize in 1994, and the International Activist Award by the Gleitsman Foundation, etc. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View.^[4] He has been praised in numerous places with titles such as "Father of Chinese Democracy" and "Nelson Mandela of China". Thousands of entries about him can be found on the Internet in various languages. Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1985 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organizations who had dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms. ... The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983, to promote democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress. ... Sven Olof Joachim Palme ( ) (30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician. ... A Different View is the monthly political magazine of the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS). ...

Besides the well publicized essay he wrote in 1978, the Fifth Modernization, he is the author of "Courage to Stand Alone -- letters from Prison and Other Writings", which compiles his articles written initially on toilet paper in jail. He has weekly commentary on Radio Free Asia, and many other news media.

From his prison, Wei Jingsheng wrote to Deng Xiaoping many letters that were smuggled out secretly and published.^[5] Hence, in 1992, he wrote a long letter about Tibet, which questioned the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty over Tibet.^[6] Deng Xiaoping   (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-ping; August 22, 1904 â€“ February 19, 1997) was a prominent Chinese politician, pragmatist and reformer, as well as the late leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC). ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Suzerainty (pronounced or ) is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which allows the tributary some limited domestic autonomy to control its foreign affairs. ... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Qing China at its greatest extent. ...

References

1. ^ DEMOCRATIE POUR LA CHINE, LE NOBEL POUR WEI JINGSHENG
2. ^ Excerpts from Qincheng: A Twentieth Century Bastille, published in Exploration, March 1979
3. ^ DARING TO VOICE THE UNSPOKEN
4. ^ A Different View, Issue 19, January 2008.
5. ^ WORD FOR WORD/Wei Jingsheng;Letters to Deng, From the Pit of Repression
6. ^ Wei Jingsheng's letter to Deng Xiaoping in 1992

See also

• List of Chinese dissidents

Many Chinese political activists have been detained, jailed and/or exiled. ...

External links

• Wei Jingsheng Foundation (魏京生基金会网页）
• youtube.com/userWJFoundation