Stop Persecuting Chinese Anti-Government Activist!

It transpired that Wei Jinsheng (52, photo), one of the most renowned democratic activists of China, sent a letter to President Kim Dae Jung on Sep. 30 and protested against the treatment Chinese anti-government activist Xu Bo (40) has received from our government. In the meanwhile, Xu Bo has been staying in Korea. Wei Jinsheng in 1970s led the first generation of anti-government activism in China, and, as a result, was put behind bars. After 19 years of imprisonment, he was released in 1997, and has settled in the United States. He is a leader of the Chinese anti-government movement, and has been nominated to Nobel Peace Prize over several occasions.

In the letter, Wei Jinsheng denounced, “Kim Dae Jung administration itself got to be born as a result of the democratic movement in Korea. Nonetheless, the Kim administration has suppressed Xu Bo’s activities in Korea and has even threatened to deport him. It is shocking.” He continued, “Your government should stop persecuting Xu Bo.” The letter was written in English and its content was made public at a press conference hosted by an organization helping foreign refugees (Chairman, Choi Hang-gyu).

Xu Bo entered Korea in 1999, and in September of 2001, was recognized by the United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees as a mandate refugee. Once a person is granted the status of a mandate refugee, the person is eligible to the protection of the commission regardless of whether the country where the person stays acknowledges the person as a refugee or not. According to the organization, however, our Ministry of Justice has not granted him the status of a refugee. In addition, the ministry even warned him last month that, If he kept engaging in political activities, the ministry would deport him.

In response, one high-ranking official of the ministry confirmed, “When he entered, our ministry conducted a probe and determined that he was not eligible to the status of a refugee. This determination will be affected by Wei Jinsheng’s letter.”

Xu Bo entered South Korea in 1999, after writing a book Red Fascist, in which he criticizes Chinese government’s crackdown on the democratic movement on the Tiannamen Square. Since April, he has led the Korean branch office of Overseas Council for Democratization of China, which in turn is headed by Wei Jinsheng.

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com