[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 199 (Thursday, December 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14903-H14904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WEI JINGSHENG'S SENTENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Cox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the People's Republic 
of China imposed a harsh new prison sentence on its most prominent 
human rights campaigner, Wei Jingsheng. Today the New York Times in 
translation has presented us with the reasons that the People's 
Republic of China has meted out this draconian sentence against its 
leading human rights activist. The charge, according to the People's 
Republic of China, was overthrowing the government, overthrowing the 
government, and what did this man who is nominated by many in this body 
for the Nobel Peace Prize do to cause the People's Republic of China to 
charge him, and convict him, and sentence him for overthrowing the 
government? Let me read from the Chinese Government statement about the 
conviction, quote:

       The court's investigation showed that Wei, in attempting to 
     overthrow the government, developed a plan of action which 
     included establishing an organization to raise funds to 
     support democratic movement activities.

  Well, that is true enough. Wei Jingsheng has long been an advocate 
for democracy in the People's Republic of China. He was a leader in the 
democracy wall movement which took its name from the wall near the city 
where democratic activists hung their pro-freedom manifestos. He served 
over 14 years in prison labor camps in China where, according to 
reliable reports, he was beaten and tortured. Now having been out of 
prison for only a few months, Mr. Speaker, he was charged and convicted 
again for promoting democracy.
  Let me read further from the government's statement:

       He is responsible for purchasing newspapers, setting up a 
     company in charge of organizing cultural activities.

  All of these things got him a prison sentence, keep in mind, 
colleagues: Organizing nongovernmental painting exhibitions, 
performances, and publications.
  Wei Jingsheng worked actively to implement the above plans, quoted 
the Chinese Government. He bought 12\1/2\ percent of the shares of an 
urban credit cooperative in Beijing to start setting up a democracy 
movement bank, and he wrote and set an introduction to projects for 
assistance to people in charge of an overseas organization and asked 
for hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars to fund his activities. He 
also registered a company in Hong Kong and used the name of the company 
to prepare art exhibitions in Beijing so as to recruit people in 
organizations that would be sympathetic to him. Wei Jingsheng also 
secretly connected some people both in China and abroad to study 
struggle strategies, conspiring to unite the illegal organizations in 
China, by which they mean the illegal pro-democracy organizations in 
China, and act when the right moment comes. He also used illegal 
means--now I am again quoting from the People's Republic of China 
official statement of yesterday:

     ``* * * and published a series of articles overseas to 
     slander and attack the Chinese Government, the leadership of 
     the Chinese Communist Party and the Socialist system, and to 
     advocate the independence of Tibet, something that another 
     Nobel laureate, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, is guilty 
     of. He and the enemy forces overseas, among which we may 
     number ourselves in this body, echo 

[[Page H14904]]
     each other and try to create publicity. Certainly that is worthy of a 
     prison sentence, to overthrow the people's democratic 
     dictatorship, sabotage the Socialist system, and separate 
     the country.

  Wei Jingsheng will be in jail for another 14 years, and the response 
from the Clinton administration has been deafening. One of our 
Democratic colleagues said yesterday, ``I think the administration 
policy is a dismal failure in every respect, and I think the sentence 
is a slap in the face.'' The New York Times notes today that the 
Clinton administration, while criticizing China, stopped conspicuously 
short of threatening specific retaliatory action.
  Mr. Speaker, even our Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights 
said only, ``We urge the Chinese authorities to show clemency.'' 
Clemency, colleagues, is due someone who is guilty. Wei Jingsheng is 
innocent, he is an innocent man wrongly charged, and this body, 
Democrats and Republicans alike, should band together in his support.

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