Further information on Wei Jingsheng’s release; at least 36 other writers remain in prison, says WiPC

“The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN welcomes
the news that Honorary PEN member Wei Jingsheng has been
released. It remains concerned, however, that he has been forced
into exile and that dozens of other writers continue to languish
in prisons and reeducation camps.

“On the week-end of November 15 and 16, 1997 (coincidentally the
week-end that International PENCenters around the world marked
the Day of the Imprisoned Writer) Wei Jingsheng was released and
immediately put on a aeroplane to the United States. He is now
receiving medical treatment in Detroit for heart trouble, high
blood pressure, rotting gums and other ailments caused or
exacerbated by his more than seventeen years in detention.

“PEN has monitored Wei’s case since his first arrest in 1979,
when he came to the fore during that year’s Democracy Wall
movement as the editor of `Exploration’ and a leading champion of
democratic reform. He is an Honorary Member of six PEN Centers.

“Wei had always sworn not to leave the People’s Republic, but his
family say that the poor state of his health left him no choice
but to go abroad. PEN is concerned that, as has happened
frequently with China’s dissidents in the past, Wei’s exile is a
condition of his release. It calls on the Chinese authorities to
grant Wei full freedom of movement and to ensure that, when his
health improves, he be allowed to return to China if this is what
he so wishes.

“PEN also remains concerned that dozens of Wei’s colleagues
continue to be held, often in conditions that are extremely
harsh. Throughout the People’s Republic, Inner Mongolia, and
Tibet, PEN records 36 writers, publishers, and journalists as
being detained for no other reason than the expression of their
views. A further 32 cases are under investigation. Furthermore,
reports of writers being beaten by other inmates or being
deprived of adequate medical care are received by PEN with
disturbing frequency.

“International PEN therefore welcomes the release of Wei
Jingsheng as a first step towards allowing greater freedom of
expression in the People’s Republic of China. However, it
impresses upon the Chinese authorities that this step must be
followed rapidly by other demonstrations of its willingness to
meet international human rights standards, such as the release of
all other writers and journalists detained merely because of
their views and the abandonment of forced exile as a mechanism
for repressing dissent.”

Recommended Action

Premier Li Peng

Office of the Premier

Guowuyan 9

Xihuangcheggenbejie

Beijingshi 100032

P.R. of China