The UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center presents
Wang Dan on
"The Chinese Student Movement: Retrospect
and Prospect"
(in Chinese with English Translation)
Friday, May 22 4-6 pm UCLA Ackerman Union, 2nd Floor Lounge (room 2414)
Click here to see a report and
photographs of Mr. Wang's talk.
Go
to an annotated list of sites with information about Wang Dan.
Leading Chinese dissident Wang Dan, the Beijing University student who helped lead the 1989 Tian'anmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations, will speak at UCLA on the future of the Chinese democracy movement. Mr. Wang will speak in Chinese and his talk will be translated into English. A question and answer session will follow the address. This is Mr. Wang's first visit to Southern California.
Wang Dan in
1989
Wang Dan was a twenty year-old student at Beijing University when he came to international
attention as one of the leaders of the pro-democracy student demonstrations in
Beijing's Tian'anmen Square in the spring of 1989. Following the violent
suppression of the demonstrations on June 4, Mr. Wang headed the Chinese
government's most-wanted list. He was arrested and sentenced to four years
in prison. Mr. Wang was released from prison in 1993, but was detained in 1995.
After holding Mr. Wang without charges for seventeen months, the Chinese government
formally arrested him in October 1996. He was then convicted of attempting
to subvert China's government and was sentenced to eleven years in prison.
On April 19, 1998, Chinese authorities released Mr. Wang from prison and placed
him on a plane to the United States.
Parking is available at UCLA in lot 6. Take the San Diego Freeway (405) to Wilshire
(towards Westwood). Turn left from Wilshire to Westwood Boulevard and continue
north to the parking information kiosk. From lot 6 follow the signs to
Ackerman Union and the Second Floor Lounge.
This event is part of the East Asia Speakers Series sponsored and organized by the USC-UCLA
Joint East Asian Studies Center. Please call the Center at (310) 825-0007 for
additional information.
Some web resources on Wang Dan:
BBC Cantonese interview with Wang Dan
The website for Carma Hinton's The Gate of Heavenly Peace includes capsule descriptions of
many of the important characters in the the Tiananmen Square
demonstrations and suppression.
Search for China News Digest stories about Wang Dan.
New York Times article on Wang Dan's 1996 sentence
Amnesty International's press release on Wang Dan's 1996 trial and sentence
Human Rights in China's (a US-based organization) 1996 plea for Wang Dan's release
Time Magazine articles about Wang Dan's release:
April 20, 1998
Reprint
of Reuter's story, April 20, 1998
May 4, 1998
story on the political climate in Beijing
China Daily articles on Wang Dan
April
3, 1998 PRC foreign ministry spokesperson denied there was an arrangement
between the PRC and the US concerning Wang Dan
April
20, 1998, the release is included in China Daily news briefs
April
30, 1998 on the procedures Wang Dan and Wei Jingsheng must follow if
they wish to return to China
Human Rights Watch
(another organization) comments on the release of Wang Dan and human rights in China
This page also has links to earlier reports about Wang Dan and US-China
relations.
PRC White Paper on Human Rights in China
This paper was prepared in 1991 in response to extensive criticism of China's human rights record. Sections of the document define human rights and compare China's record with that of other nations. At the China News site, click on the "government white papers" button and then select the report on human rights. A second paper, "Progress in China's Human Rights Cause" was issued in 1996. It, too is available on the China News site.
To the CEAS Asia via the Web page
.