[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4380-S4381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE UNJUST IMPRISONMENT OF WEI JINGSHENG

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today it is my unhappy duty to note the 
continued imprisonment of Wei Jingsheng by the Government of China. In 
an attempt to silence his bold voice for democracy, Mr. Wei has been 
jailed in solitary confinement or forced to work in a labor camp for 
all but 6 months of the past 18 years. As a result of his mistreatment, 
he suffers from a life-threatening heart condition and cannot lift his 
head due to a neck injury. Today I join my colleagues to call for his 
immediate and unconditional release, and urge the Government of China 
to provide him with medical attention.
  Mr. Wei's commitment to democracy and freedom despite such 
mistreatment is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the 
power that words hold over the human soul. He was first jailed in 1978 
after founding an independent magazine and daring to call for 
democracy. Despite the hard conditions of prison life, Mr. Wei refused 
to abandon his beliefs. Over the next decade, he wrote many letters--
some to his family telling of his daily life, others to the leaders of 
his nation urging them to take immediate steps toward democracy. 
Virtually all were confiscated by prison authorities and never sent. 
Released as a result of international pressure in 1993, Mr. Wei 
immediately resumed his advocacy of democracy despite all that he had 
suffered. Within 6 months he was sentenced to another 14 years in 
prison. Today Chinese officials consider his writings so threatening 
that he is constantly monitored by criminal inmates whose job it is to 
ensure that he puts no words down on paper.
  Despite these measures, Mr. Wei's words have echoed throughout China 
and the world. In 1989, demands for his release helped to stir the 
demonstration in Tiananmen Square. He also has been honored with the 
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom, 
and been nominated many times for the Nobel Prize for Peace.
  I am confident that the Chinese Government's attempts to silence Mr. 
Wei will not succeed. Mr. Wei's letters,

[[Page S4381]]

which he reclaimed as a condition of his release in 1993, are published 
in ``The Courage To Stand Alone: Letters From Prison and Other 
Writings,'' to be released today. It is my hope that these words will 
continue to echo throughout the world, and help to bring freedom and 
democracy to the people of China.
  Thinking of Mr. Wei, I am reminded of the words of another man 
imprisoned for his uncompromising beliefs. As he wrote from his cell:

       Only one thing has remained: the chance to prove--to 
     myself, to those around me and to God--that . . . I stand 
     behind what I do, that I mean it seriously and that I can 
     take the consequences.

  Today I will meet the writer of those words, President Vaclav Havel 
of the Czech Republic. I am filled with hope as I think of President 
Havel's extraordinary life and his path from political prisoner to 
president. I know that Mr. Wei shares President Havel's determination 
to stand behind his beliefs. It is my hope that one day he also will be 
free to travel to Washington and that this day will come soon. Mr. 
Wei's unjust imprisonment must end, and I appeal to the Government of 
China to release him immediately.

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