UCLA Center for
East Asian Studies
An Event in the East Asian Speakers Series
Wei Jingsheng
Democracy in China: Retrospect and Prospect
Wei Jingsheng, recipient of the Gleitsman Foundation, Robert F. Kennedy, and Olaf Palme human rights awards and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, spoke at UCLA on October 29, 1998. Over one hundred students, faculty, and other community members crowded into a Dodd Hall lecture hall to hear Mr. Wei discuss the importance and challenge of promoting the democratization of China. Mr. Wei responded to a wide range of questions from the audience and print and broadcast reporters.
Alan Gleitsman and Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng answering press questions prior to his talk
Photographs of Wei Jingsheng at UCLA are by William Short.
Web Resources on Wei Jingsheng
An electrician at the Beijing Zoo, Wei came to international attention through
his "Democracy Wall" era essay: "The Fifth Modernization: Democracy" circulated in December 1978. He was subsequently tried and convicted of providing a foreigner with state secrets. Altogether, Wei served two prison stints, totalling 19 years. Read "The Fifth Modernization" at the Democracy in China website.Wei's prison writings have been translated and published as The Courage to Stand Alone. This site includes information about Wei's activities and views since he was released from prison and expelled from China on November 16, 1997.
Wei has advocated using trade sanctions to pressure China into political reform. Not long after his release, he wrote "What to do about China" for Newsweek magazine.
On February 3, 1998, Wei testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights. A transcript of his testimony is available at the American Foreign Policy Council's website.
Click here to see an
annotated list of sites pertaining to human rights in China.