Tuesday, May 26, 1998
Wang gives talk on campus
SPEAKER: Student leader, just released from prison, hopes to
finish education
By Christy Lin
Daily Bruin Contributor
He lead 200 college students in a protest for democracy. At
29-year-old, he has already been incarcerated for eight years. He
held a spot on "China’s Top 21 Most Wanted Students" list. He may
have been released by China as a means of having better relations
with the United States.
These are the things Wang Dan is known for, but in a speaking
event held on the second floor Ackerman lounge last Friday, Wang
revealed himself as someone who wanted to be a pure scholar.
"My ideal is to be an independent intellectual. I deplore the
chore of being president," he said when asked if he would like to
be president of China.
Later, Wang also said, "I don’t think I’m cut out to be a
leader."
Wang was one of the student leaders in the 1989 Tien’anmen
Square student democracy movement in China that resulted in the
Chinese government killing hundreds of people.
After an April release from prison, where he spent most of his
time reading, Wang was brought to the United States and then to
Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital for medical treatment. His release is
believed to be the beginning of more diplomatic relations between
the U.S. and China.
Wang spoke as part of the East Asia Speakers Series organized by
the USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center. Addressing a large
crowd in a white shirt and slacks, Wang spoke on "The Chinese
Student Movement: Retrospect and Prospect."
However, his speech was surprisingly short. Of the two hours set
aside for the event, Wang’s formal speech lasted less than ten
minutes, in which he stated his two wishes.
"First of all, I don’t like people to treat me like a star or a
hero, I just want you to treat me like ordinary people, like
everybody else," Wang said.
"The second wish is that not only do you to share your thoughts
with me, I would like get some of your concrete advices. I would
cherish this chance."
Wang was grateful for the welcome he received and believes it is
because he just stepped out of prison, but he wants us to remember
the others who have stayed in longer and are still there.
He spent the rest of the time answering questions from the
audience.
Speaking in Mandarin and translated by Leo Chen, a Ph.D. student
studying film and television, Wang answered a wide range of
questions, including whether or not Wang would chase after girls
while in school.
He answered, "I haven’t decided. My ideal campus life is to be a
regular student. If you have a girlfriend, I would want one too. If
I met the perfect girl, I don’t know what would I do."
Another question involved who or what Wang thought was the cause
of human rights abuse in China, whether it was a certain
generation, the leaders or the economy.
"There are a lot of problems that have to go back to Chinese
history," Wang replied.
"There is a lack of human rights in the traditional Chinese pop
political culture. The government is not aware of this lack of
respect. To solve this problem does not only have to do with the
system, you also have to take into consideration the cultural
environment."
Wang believes that even if democracy is established in China, it
will take time to ensure the government functions well in that
system.
When asked what reforms Wang would like to see the most in
China, he said, "We envision a free democratic political system,
and in the near future we would like to see at least freedom of
speech."
The audience also wanted to know some pragmatic ways Wang had
for implementing a way to stop human rights violations.
To this, Wang answered, "Right now I am here trying to study in
the United States is a concrete move, rather than to set an
unreachable goal."
Wang showed that he feels that he can do little to directly
influence the human rights situation in China while he is out of
the country.
He wants to go back to change things but will try to gain more
knowledge in the U.S. first.
Wang has been accepted at many prestigious universities to study
English. Harvard seems to be his first choice.
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Wang Dan, one of the student leaders during the Tian’anmen
Square democracy movement, speaks at UCLA.