Wei Jingsheng
| Wei Jingsheng | |
|---|---|
Wei Jingsheng at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the 25th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize, November 20, 2013
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| Born |
20 May 1950 Beijing, People's Republic of China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Occupation | Writer, Democracy activist, Human rights |
| Known for | Leader in Democracy Wall Movement |
| Awards | 1994 Olof Palme Prize 1996 Sakharov Prize |
Wei Jingsheng (Chinese: 魏京生; pinyin: Wèi Jīngshēng; born 20 May 1950, Beijing) is a Chinese human rights activist known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay, Fifth Modernization, which was posted on the "Democracy Wall" in Beijing in 1978. Due to the manifesto, Wei was arrested and convicted of "counterrevolutionary" activities, and was detained as a political prisoner from 1979–93. Released briefly in 1993, Wei continued with his dissident activities by speaking to visiting journalists, and was imprisoned again from 1994–97, spending a total of 18 years in different prisons. He was deported to the United States on 16 November 1997, on medical parole. Still a Chinese citizen, in 1998 Wei established the Wei Jingsheng Foundation in New York City (now based in Washington D.C.) whose stated aim is to work to improve human rights and democratization in China.
Wei was the oldest of four children, brought up by Chinese Communist Party cadres. In 1966, Wei joined the Red Guards as a 16-year-old student during the Cultural Revolution. He lived in remote rural areas in Northern China and was able to speak with peasant farmers about the widespread famines that had occurred a few years before, during the Great Leap Forward. He uncovered the role that the communist government under Mao Zedong played in causing the famines, and it forced Wei to start questioning the nature of the system he lived under. Wei would later write about this period: "I felt as if I had suddenly awakened from a long dream, but everyone around me was still plunged in darkness." In 1973, he began working as an electrician at the Beijing Zoo.
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