Springtime for Hope
Sheng Xue is a Canada-based writer, journalist, and a leader of the overseas Chinese pro-democracy movement. She is the editor-in-chief of the China Spring magazine. She is honoured to follow in the footsteps of Wang Bingzhang, the magazine’s founder this currently imprisoned in China for advocating for democracy.
Standing together for a cause. July 1, 1994, Washington D.C. during the China Democracy Movement Training Course. Wang in the center, donning a white suit. Sheng on the third from the left.
On January 31, 2023, the third issue of the China Spring online magazine was published, and as its editor-in-chief, I felt relieved. Looking out the window at the snow settling in the wake of strong winds, I couldn't help but think of Dr. Wang Bingzhang, the founder of this magazine. He has been in solitary confinement for twenty years, serving a life sentence in prison in China.
Wang Bingzhang was born on December 30, 1947, in China. After graduating from Beijing Medical University and working as a physician for eight years, he was sponsored by the Chinese government to study abroad at McGill University in Canada, where he received his MD degree in 1982. He was the first Chinese citizen to receive a doctoral degree since the Cultural Revolution in 1966.
In November 1982, he published a manifesto. He went on to found 中國之春 or China Spring, the first magazine published and distributed publicly by international students from mainland China against the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The next year, he founded the first Chinese overseas pro-democracy group, The Chinese Alliance for Democracy.
See CBC Documentary “Inside these Walls”, on Dr. Wang Bingzhang and the impact of his imprisonment on his family.
The media coverage of Wang Bingzhang was extensive, with leading media outlets such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette, The Guardian, The BBC and many others. His family — who live in Montreal — are also the subject of a recent CBC documentary.
When the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement broke out in China in May 1989, he decided to return to China from the United States to join the movement. However, he was prevented from boarding a plane to China while he was in transit in Japan. In 1998, he secretly tried again and successfully returned to mainland China to try to form a democratic party, but he was arrested and deported. In June 2002, he was kidnapped by the Chinese Spies in Vietnam. He was charged with espionage and terrorism and sentenced to life imprisonment in China.
International organizations such as the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Worldrights, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights have publicly opposed Wang Bingzhang's detention. Further the United States Congress and Canadian parliamentarians have expressed support for Wang Bingzhang.
After the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, I left Beijing, China, for Canada in August on a student visa. About twenty days after I arrived in Toronto, I attended a demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Since then I have been a committed human rights activist.
“Wang Bingzhang is my role model. I also hope to contribute more to his release and to honour his legacy.”
What I had seen and experienced in China had only stiffened my resolve and strengthened my believe the change was both necessary and urgent. For instance, on February 14, 1990, while I was working at a hairdressing salon on Dundas Street the business was attacked by thieves. Three people with black stockings on their heads, two with knives in their hands and one with a gun, entered the store and demanded money and jewelry and bags. The woman next to me was shivering in fear.
Wide shot during Tiananmen Massacre 1989 by Stuart Franklin showing a column of tanks approaching Tank Man, who is shown near the lower-left corner (via Wiki images)
I told the robbers to take the money and leave our ID documents. The man in the middle yelled, "Shut up." Then they fled, and I chased them to the door to observe in what direction they ran. The boss asked me why I was so brave. I said, I've seen soldiers shooting people and tanks running all over the street during the Tiananmen Massacre.
But that is not why I became a human rights activist and a leader of the overseas Chinese democracy movement. My life goals were set long before that. My grandfather was a famous educator, economist, and politician before the Chinese Communist Party established its regime. Naturally, my parents became enemies of the CCP and were severely persecuted as a result, and we children were subjected to bullying and discrimination. Growing up, I saw many tragic things, many injustices, and Chinese people living without freedom, dignity, and human rights. I realized that systemic tyranny is the nature of the CCP and I became determined to contribute to changing the system.
In addition to my busy schedule of human rights activism and the Chinese democracy movement, I have written and published a book of poetry, an anthology, and a journalistic chronicle; I have also edited four books. I am deeply honoured and blessed to have won two poetry awards, three media awards, and several honorary awards.
I am glad that in Canada, I have had the opportunity to meet human rights activists, poets, writers, social activists, and scholars from other parts of the world and to share our life experiences and to learn from and appreciate each other. They also opened my eyes to human rights disasters in other parts of the world. I want to offer my voice and assistance in support to people suffering in those places too.
Wang Bingzhang is my role model. I also hope to contribute more to his release and to honour his legacy. I agreed to take over as the editor-in-chief of China Spring because I hope that China Spring can achieve the goal of creating an environment for theoretical discussions and frank exchange of ideas, building a platform for pluralism and the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and constructing a free and democratic Chinese language forum with modern civilization.
