A Letter from Wei Jingsheng

Wei Jingsheng, one of China's most well-known and influential prodemocracy advocates, who has been a prisoner of conscience for most of the past 18 years, was freed and sent to the US last November. In December, he wrote a heartfelt letter to Amnesty International:

Thank you to all my Amnesty International friends!

 

When I learned of all the hard work that friends at Amnesty International have done for those suffering from political oppression around the world, I was deeply moved by your compassion and staunch determination.

 

I don't often like to, nor am I very good at, writing words of praise, so let me tell you a story instead: when I was in prison, my treatment would vary from good to bad at different times. At first I couldn't understand the reasons for this, but later I figured out that pressure exerted by the international community and various governments played an important role. Yet sometimes, the situation would improve suddenly for no apparent reason.

 

During one of these times, a guard who never usually spoke to me struck up a conversation. We chatted casually for a bit and then I asked him very nonchalantly, "I guess fewer letters have been coming for me lately, right?" The guard then looked at me and exclaimed incredulously, "Fewer? Old Wei, you get so many letters!" When he finished saying this he realized what he had told me and suddenly stopped speaking and hurried out of the room.

 

I then remembered how in 1979 my friend Marie Holzman had told me about the work of Amnesty International and how many people worked silently for years sending letters on behalf of prisoners of conscience. The mental inspiration this gave me greatly surpassed any small improvement in my living conditions.

 

Your work is of enormous value to those suffering from political oppression. It is perhaps more successful than you yourselves have ever realized. The message I would like to give you is: please keep the faith.

 

Your eternal friend
Wei Jingsheng [signed]
5 December 1997