China Democracy Activist Apparently Abducted Prior To Obama Event
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China Democracy Activist Wei Jingsheng Disappears Ahead of Obama's Visit
Wei Jingsheng, a prominent Chinese democracy activist and former political prisoner, has gone missing in Beijing just days before US President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to China.
Wei, who spent 18 years in jail for his outspoken criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, was last seen on November 7 by his friends and family. His whereabouts and condition are unknown.
Wei's disappearance has raised concerns among human rights groups and dissidents, who fear he may have been abducted by the authorities to prevent him from speaking out during Obama's trip.
\"We are extremely worried about Wei Jingsheng's safety and urge the Chinese government to immediately disclose his location and guarantee his well-being,\" said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
\"The international community should also press China to respect Wei's rights and release him unconditionally.\"
Wei is widely regarded as the father of China's democracy movement. He rose to fame in 1978 when he wrote a bold essay titled \"The Fifth Modernization: Democracy\" on a public wall known as the Democracy Wall in Beijing.
The essay challenged the legitimacy of the Communist Party and called for political reforms and human rights. Wei signed the essay with his real name and address.
He was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for \"counter-revolutionary crimes\". He was released briefly in 1993, but was rearrested in 1994 and sentenced to another 14 years. He was expelled to the United States in 1997 on medical parole.
Since then, Wei has continued to advocate for democracy and human rights in China from abroad. He has also met with several US presidents, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
Obama is expected to arrive in Beijing on November 10 for a three-day visit, during which he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The White House has said that Obama will raise human rights issues with Xi, but has not commented on Wei's case specifically.
China has repeatedly rejected any foreign interference in its internal affairs and accused the US of hypocrisy and double standards on human rights.
On Saturday, China issued a white paper titled \"China: Democracy That Works\", which claimed that its one-party system is a true democracy that delivers results for its people.
The paper also criticized the US-style democracy as a game of money politics that serves the interests of the few over the many.
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Wei's friends and supporters have urged Obama to raise his case with Xi and demand his immediate release. They have also launched a petition on the White House website, calling for Obama to meet with Wei and other Chinese dissidents during his visit.
\"Wei Jingsheng is a symbol of China's democracy movement and a hero of the Chinese people. He has sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom and human rights in China. He deserves our respect and support,\" said Hu Ping, a fellow democracy activist and editor of Beijing Spring, a Chinese-language magazine based in New York.
\"Obama should not let China's hard-liners humiliate him and ignore his concerns. He should stand up for Wei and other prisoners of conscience in China.\"
Wei is not the only dissident who has faced harassment and intimidation ahead of Obama's visit. Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-author of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reforms in China, remains in jail serving an 11-year sentence for \"inciting subversion of state power\". His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since 2010.
Other activists, lawyers, journalists and religious believers have also reported increased surveillance, restrictions and threats from the authorities in recent weeks.
China has a history of cracking down on dissent before major international events or visits by foreign leaders. In 2009, Wei was briefly detained and interrogated by the police before Obama's first trip to China as president.
Wei has said he hopes Obama will use his influence to push for democratic change in China, but he has also expressed disappointment with Obama's previous approach to China.
\"Obama has been too soft on China. He has not done enough to support the Chinese people's struggle for democracy and human rights. He has given too much ground to China's hard-liners, who only understand the language of strength,\" Wei said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2010.
\"Obama should realize that China's rise is not peaceful or benign. It is a threat to the world's peace and stability. He should work with other democratic countries to contain China's expansionism and aggression.\"
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