Arrest and trial of Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao explained

Chen Ziming (8 January 1952 – 21 October 2014) and Wang Juntao were arrested in late 1989 for their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Chinese authorities alleged they were the "black hands" behind the movement. Both Chen and Wang rejected the allegations made against them. They were put on trial in 1990 and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

History of protest

Before their arrest for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Chen and Wang were arrested for their involvement in the 1976 protests marking the death of Zhou Enlai.[1] They were released however, after Deng Xiaoping took power and reversed the verdict on the incident.[1] Chen and Wang were also active in the Democracy Wall movement in 1978–1979.[2] In 1985, they helped found the Beijing Social and Economic Sciences Research Institute.[2]

Arrest and indictment

In November or October 1989, Chen and Wang were arrested in Southern Guangdong while trying to make their way to Guangzhou.[1] [3] They were allegedly following an escape route set up by an unidentified Hong Kong activist who was also arrested.[1] It is believed that Wang spent the months after June 4th hiding in the city of Wuhan while Chen went underground in Inner Mongolia.[1] On November 24, 1990, Wang was formally charged with intent to overthrow the Communist government and dissemination of counterrevolutionary propaganda.[2] Chen was similarly charged on November 26, 1990.[4] Authorities claimed that the two were the alleged masterminds or "black hands" behind the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.[5]

Trial

On December 10, 1990, in Montreal, Canada, activists campaigned in support of Wang and Chen. One of the organizers, Wu Chunmeng, expressed concern that, with international attention focused on the Persian Gulf crisis, the fate of Chinese political prisoners would be overlooked.[6]

According to the verdict in the Case of Chen Ziming, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court concluded the following through "facts... attested to by witnesses’ testimony, by written evidence and by tape-recordings:"[7]

The court ruled that "these acts constitute the crime of plotting to subvert the government and the crime of counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement and must be punished according to law."[7]

Wang's Defence claimed Yan Mingfu, head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, sent Zheng Yefu to invite Wang and others to "get involved immediately" in the movement to "serve as a bridge between the students and the government."[5] Thus, the Defence claimed Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming involved themselves in the movement to "fulfill the task assigned to them by the party."[5]

At his trial, Chen Ziming rejected the charges against him as "unfair and incorrect."[10]

Sentencing

On February 12, 1991, both Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao were sentenced to 13 years in prison.[11] The Xinhua News Agency stated that the two "committed very serious crimes but have so far shown no willingness to repent."[12] By comparison, Liu Gang, convicted of subversion, and Chen Xiaoping, convicted on the same charges as Wang and Chen Ziming, received more lenient sentences. Liu received six years because, according to the Xinhua News Agency, "he acknowledged his crimes and showed willingness to repent."[12] Chen Xiaoping was released "for voluntarily giving himself up to police and showing willingness to repent", according to the news agency.[12]

Others have offered different reasons for the discrepancy in sentencing. Merle Goldman, a Boston University professor of Chinese history, argued that Wang and Chen "represent a new revolutionary class in China, and that is why the regime is so worried about them."[12] A Western diplomat argues that the Chinese government "needed somebody to blame for millions of people marching on the streets, and in public it's come down to blaming these two guys."[13] Andrew Higgins, a reporter covering the trial, suggested the importance of the trial was not the sentence but the verdict, which served "to show that the People's Liberation Army crushed not a popular revolt but a planned conspiracy."[10]

Beijing Higher People's Court later rejected appeals of the three sentences.[14]

Wang's letter of criticism

After the trial, in a letter smuggled out of prison, Wang criticized both his trial and the response of fellow protesters. About his trial he stated:

As a matter of general principle I find it absolutely impermissible and insupportable that the charge of "viciously attacking" [the party] should once again be used in our republic, as a means of denying and repudiating the lawful rights of citizens. So when the public prosecutor accused me, on the grounds merely that I had opposed the leadership, of committing the crime of counterrevolution, I became very angry. I could not just limit my defense to saying, "I do not oppose the leadership", and felt obliged to defend instead "the lawful right to oppose the leadership."[15]

Of his fellow protesters he stated:

"It grieves me to see that, when confronted with the consequences, so many of the leaders and initiators of this movement dared not take responsibility for it and sought to defame it.... In this way [they] can suffer less pain themselves, but what of the dead, lacking any way to defend themselves [and] cannot rest in peace?"[15]

Release and re-imprisonment

On April 23, 1994, the Chinese Government released Wang Juntao and allowed him to travel to New York City on medical parole.[16] The release came five weeks before the US decided whether to renew China's most favoured nation trading status.[17]

On May 14, 1994, Chen Ziming was released on medical parole.[18] In June 1995, he was placed under house arrest and then later returned to prison.[19] [20] Chen was again released on medical parole in November 1996, two weeks prior to a visit by US Secretary of State Warren Christopher.[21] He remained under strict house arrest until 2002 when his sentence ended.[22]

Renovation and Construction

Renovation and Construction[23] whose domain name was bjsjs.net,[24] was a website founded by Chen Ziming[25] and He Jiadong[26] on February 1, 2004.[27] Renovation and Construction was the website of Beijing Institute of Social and Economic Sciences,[28] and its legal representative was He Jiadong.[29] In August 2005, Renovation and Construction was censored in less than two hours after it published the article A Strong Nation Cannot Eat Its Own Children in the headline position.[30]

Death

Chen died on 21 October 2014 at the age of 62, from pancreatic cancer.[31]

Further reading

Black, George; Robin Munro (1993). Black Hands of Beijing: Lives of Defiance in China's Democracy Movement. New York: John Wiley. .

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: China cuts escape line, arrests top 2 dissidents. FINAL. November 9, 1989. The Windsor Star. A14. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 188638191).
  2. News: Lena H Sun. 2 Chinese Given 13-Year Terms as 'Manipulators' of Tiananmen Protest. The Washington Post. Feb 13, 1991. ProQuest. A14.
  3. News: Robert Benjamin. The Baltimore Sun. November 27, 1990. Chinese dissidents face death. EARLY. The Windsor Star. D6. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 189024671).
  4. News: Second Chinese Dissident Charged With Sedition. November 27, 1990. The Washington Post. A16. .
  5. News: Door Slams on Chinese Defender of Democracy. March 26, 1991. Wall Street Journal. Eastern. A22. Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 4243832)..
  6. News: Letter campaign urged to save Chinese dissidents; Two detainees face execution if convicted. FINAL. December 10, 1990. The Gazette. A4. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 164145671).
  7. News: Guilt by Association: More Documents from the Chinese Trials. July 25, 1991. News from Asia Watch. 8. December 4, 2016. October 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081020124835/http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/china/scholars/t15/China0791.PDF. dead.
  8. News: Guilt by Association: More Documents from the Chinese Trials. July 25, 1991. News from Asia Watch. 6. December 4, 2016. October 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081020124835/http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/china/scholars/t15/China0791.PDF. dead.
  9. News: Guilt by Association: More Documents from the Chinese Trials. July 25, 1991. News from Asia Watch. 7. December 4, 2016. October 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081020124835/http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/china/scholars/t15/China0791.PDF. dead.
  10. News: Andrew Higgins. February 12, 1991. China rushes to wrap up prosecution of activists. ME1. Toronto Star. D8. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 460261041).
  11. News: Lena H Sun. February 13, 1991. 2 Chinese Given 13-Year Terms as 'Manipulators' of Tiananmen Protests. The Washington Post. A14. .
  12. News: McGregor, James. February 13, 1991. Two Dissidents, Adept at Raising Money, Get Longest Terms Yet in Beijing Trials. Wall Street Journal. Eastern. A9. Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 4239560).
  13. News: Nicholas D. Kristof. February 13, 1991. China sentences 2 of its dissidents to 13-year terms. New York Times. A1. .
  14. News: Chinese dissidents lose appeals. FINAL. March 21, 1991. The Windsor Star. D9. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 189184351).
  15. News: I Fight for Principles. March 26, 1991. Wall Street Journal. Eastern. A22. Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 4243859).
  16. News: China releases dissident amid trade-status debate. April 25, 1994. Wall Street Journal. Eastern. A8. Wall Street Journal. (Document ID: 4364249).
  17. News: NEWS BRIEFING Prominent dissident set free. April 25, 1994. The Globe and Mail. A.8. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies. (Document ID: 1103757271).
  18. News: Patrick E. Tyler. May 14, 1994. Tiananmen Leader Is Set Free by China. New York Times. 1. .
  19. For house arrest, see News: Dissident in House Arrest. June 3, 1995. 3. .
  20. For return to prison, see News: Elaine Sciolino. June 29, 1995. In Warning to U.S., China Cracks Down on 2 Dissidents. New York Times. A8. .
  21. News: Seth Faison. November 7, 1996. China Paroles Key Dissident Prior to Visit By U.S. Aide. New York Times. A6. .
  22. News: Erik Eckholm. October 11, 2002. China: Democracy Campaigner's Sentence Ends. New York Times. A6. .
  23. News: That is How it Went. 13 October 2006. Human Rights in China.
  24. Book: Gloria Davies. Worrying about China: The Language of Chinese Critical Inquiry. 30 June 2009. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-03023-7. 264–.
  25. News: I feel sad to lose Chen Ziming. 2014-10-28. The New York Times.
  26. Book: Xu Xiao. "Martyrs": Remembering Chen Ziming. 23 September 2015. Bright Mirror Publishing House. 978-1-68182-026-2. 224–.
  27. News: Website relaunched to express condolences to Mr. He Jiadong. 2007-04-08. Beijing Spring.
  28. News: Beijing Institute of Social and Economic Sciences. https://web.archive.org/web/20050612143758/http://www.bjsjs.net/. dead. 2021-04-27. 2005-06-12. www.bjsjs.net.
  29. News: Chinese liberal scholar He Jiadong dies of illness. 2006-10-17. Radio Free Asia.
  30. News: Dissident-run website shut down. Apple Daily. 2005-08-07. 2021-07-15. 2021-06-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20210621163518/https://hk.appledaily.com/china/20050807/G4SNM7MAXZYXID3YDQG27RKWYY/. dead.
  31. News: Veteran Chinese democracy activist Chen Ziming dies from cancer. Reuters. 21 October 2014.

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