The Courage to Stand Alone: Letters from Prison and Other Writings - Hardcover

Wei, Jingsheng

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670872490 ISBN 13: 9780670872497

Publisher: Viking Adult, 1997

Synopsis

The letters of a Chinese dissident who has been imprisoned for nearly twenty years are published here, along with essays that he has written about his political beliefs and what China's economic and human rights reforms should be.

About this title

Review:

For some writers, publication is an achievement; for Wei Jingsheng it is closer to a miracle. The letters Wei wrote during his first 15 years as a political prisoner in China are addressed to his family, to various officials, and even to Deng Xiaoping. They relate ambitious ideas regarding the environment, human rights, Hong Kong, and the Tiananmen Square massacre, among others; and they are undeniably critical of the regime. So how did these provocative epistles get published? In 1995 China wanted to release Wei as a public relations gambit in its bid for the 2000 Olympics. Wei wanted the file of letters he knew prison officials kept. He and the government swapped amnesty for the letters, which Wei hoped to use for a planned autobiography. Six months later, he was sentenced to another 14-year term for speaking out, and he has disappeared into silence once more. The Courage to Stand Alone, edited and translated by Kristina M. Torgeson, is the voice he left behind.

What inner strength allows a human being to withstand years of torture, deprivation, and neglect? These amazing letters give some indication of the fierce, intelligent mind that persevered when all hope was gone. By the time he is released in 2009--assuming he survives this second imprisonment--Wei will have spent half his life in prison. The Courage to Stand Alone makes clear just what China has lost.

About the Author:

Wei Jingsheng, a former Red Guard, was working as an electrician at the Beijing Zoo in 1978 when he became a leader in the Democracy Wall movement. An outspoken critic of government policy and advocate of individual rights since then, he was imprisoned in China from 1979 to 1993. Rearrested and imprisoned again in early 1994, he is now serving a fourteen-year sentence. In 1996 he won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0670872490
• ISBN 13: 9780670872497
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 283