[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      IN SUPPORT OF WEI JINGSHENG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 13, 1997

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the Chinese 
Government to release Wei Jingsheng and allow him to receive the 
medical treatment he desperately needs. Wei has been an outspoken and 
articulate advocate for democratic reform in China and is currently 
imprisoned for his efforts.
  Wei has spent much of his adult life in prison. He was arrested in 
1979 for his participation in the Democracy Wall movement, during which 
he argued that the government's modernization plans were impossible 
without democratic reform. He remained in prison until 1993 when he was 
released on the eve of the International Olympic Committee's decision 
about whether to award the 2000 Olympics to Beijing.
  Wei was arrested again in 1994, for his continued outspokenness and 
only days after meeting with Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human 
Rights, and Labor, John Shattuck. Wei was held incommunicado for 20 
months and has been sentenced to another 14 years imprisonment. He is 
due to be released in 2009. Wei's family has not been able to see him 
since February and he is very ill. He suffers from arthritis, high 
blood pressure, and heart disease, but is not receiving effective 
medical treatment.
  Today, we mark the publication of Wei's book, ``The Courage to Stand 
Alone: Letters From Prison and Other Writings.'' Wei has received the 
1994 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award as well as the Sakarov Prize 
for Freedom of Thought.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to call on the Chinese 
Government to release Wei Jingsheng.

                          ____________________