Wei Jingsheng is a Chinese human rights activist who is known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay "The Fifth Modernization", which was posted on the Democracy Wall in Beijing in 1978. Due to the manifesto, Wei was arrested and convicted of "counter-revolutionary" 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 whose stated aim is to work to improve human rights and democratization in China.
Early years
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.
Democracy Wall
Wei did not publicly voice his feelings until 1978, when he decided to take part in the newly emerged Democracy Wall movement taking place in Beijing. On 5 December 1978, he posted an essay he authored to the wall, entitled, "The Fifth Modernization" as a response to Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's essay, the Four Modernizations. Wei's basic theme in the essay is that democracy also should be a modernization goal for China along with the other four proposed by Deng. Wei signed the essay with his real name and address. The essay immediately caused a stir because of its boldness and because it was not anonymous. It was also the only essay to address Deng Xiaoping by name, and refer to him as a dictator.
Arrest and imprisonment
Wei was also known for his editorial work in the short-lived magazine Explorations in 1979. He had also published a letter under his name in March 1979 denouncing the inhuman conditions of the Chinese Qincheng Prison, where the 10th Panchen Lama was imprisoned. His dissident writings eventually saw him tried and imprisoned. Writes Orville Schell, a writer and academic specializing in China: Wei ultimately spent a total of 18 years in different prisons in China. The letters that he wrote while he was in prison explaining his views were compiled into a book, The Courage to Stand Alone: Letters from Prison and Other Writings. Some of the letters were addressed directly to Deng Xiaoping, others to different family members of Wei. He remained imprisoned until 14 September 1993, when he was released just one week prior to a vote by the International Olympic Committee over whether to award the 2000 Summer Olympics to Beijing or Sydney. Wei continued to speak out, despite the threat of arrest. On 27 February 1994, Wei met with United States Assistant Secretary of State for Human RightsJohn Shattuck to discuss human rights conditions in China, and also met with journalists. Wei was arrested the following week along with fifteen other democracy and labor activists. Although released shortly afterward and sent into exile in Tianjin, Wei was arrested once more on 1 April 1994 when he tried to return to Beijing. Charged with plotting against the state, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but he would only remain in jail until 16 November 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.
