Harry Wu
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Harry Wu (; February 8, 1937 – April 26, 2016) was a
Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...
human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...
. Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, and he became a resident and citizen of the United States. In 1992, he founded the
Laogai Research Foundation The Laogai Research Foundation is a human rights NGO located in Washington, D.C, United States. The foundation's mission is to "gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai—China's extensive system of forced-labor prison camp ...
.


Biography


Early life and education

Wu was born into an affluent family in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
; his father was a banking official and his mother had descended from a family of well-to-do
landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
s. Wu studied at the Geology Institute in Beijing, where he earned a degree. In 1956, the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
began a campaign encouraging citizens, particularly students and intellectuals, to express their true views of the Party and the state of society (known as the
Hundred Flowers Campaign The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement (), was a period from 1956 to 1957 in the People's Republic of China during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of t ...
). Although cautious, Wu eventually voiced some sentiments, by disagreeing with the Soviet Union's military intervention in Hungary, and the practice of labeling people into different categories. By the Fall of 1956, China's leader, Mao Zedong abruptly reversed course and proclaimed that the true enemies of the Party had been exposed and 19-year-old Wu was subsequently singled out at his university. Wu later wrote of this experience: "This was the first time I had ever been singled out as a political troublemaker. Most of my classmates were more pragmatic than I, and they just repeated what the Communists wanted to hear."Wu; Vecsey; ''Troublemaker'' — pp. 49–52, 54–55. For the next few years, Wu was continuously criticized in Party meetings and closely monitored until his arrest in 1960 at the age of 23 when he was charged with being a " counterrevolutionary rightist", and was sent to the ''
laogai ''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK). ''Láogǎi'' i ...
'' (China's system of forced-labor prison camps).


Labor camp years

Harry Wu was imprisoned for 19 years in 12 different camps mining coal, building roads, clearing land, and planting and harvesting crops. According to his own accounts, he was beaten, tortured and nearly starved to death, and witnessed the deaths of many other prisoners from brutality, starvation, and suicide. In the camps Wu met a rough, illiterate peasant with the nickname, "Big Mouth Xing". Wu wrote, "I could see how Big Mouth Xing had gotten his name. The corners of his mouth seemed to stretch all the way to his ears." Xing had experienced a lot of starvation in life, first in his rural village, and later in the camps, and had become obsessed with getting enough food. Lean and muscular, with missing teeth and ears that "looked black with dirt", Xing taught Wu how to fight for survival in the camps. He showed Wu how to dig for underground rat burrows in order to find clean caches of grain and beans which could then later be boiled for food to avoid starvation. He also taught Wu how to be aggressive to discourage bullies. Wu came from an urban, educated background and was naive. Xing often repeated to Wu, "Nobody here will take care of you. You have to take care of yourself." Wu later wrote: Wu was released from his life sentence in 1979 at the age of 42, as a result of political changes following the death of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. He obtained a teaching position at the Geoscience University in Beijing, but found that the label of having been a
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
continued to follow him. Wu also found that those who had played a part in labeling him "an enemy of the people", leading to his imprisonment twenty years earlier, tended to react to his survival and return the same way: "All that has happened is in the past ... the Party has suffered too." Wu left China for the United States in 1985, after having received a chance invitation from the
University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
to be a visiting scholar. (A faculty member at Berkeley had read an article that Wu had written in an academic journal on geology).


Early years in the U.S.

Wu arrived in the U.S. with only 40 dollars, a few clothes and an ink tiger print that he had inherited from his father. Since he did not have funding from the university for his first year he had to improvise. At first he was sleeping in the park, and on the
Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...
when it rained. He got a night shift job making donuts at a donut shop for a few months; then a job at a liquor store, and was finally able to rent a cheap apartment. Wu continued with various odd jobs during this period and in 1988 began working for an electronic chip manufacturer, where he became an assistant manager, and was able to buy a used car. Looking back on this period of his life, Wu felt that there was opportunity and if he just worked hard he could make it.Wu; Vecsey; ''Troublemaker'' — pp. 74–81. During his first years in America, Wu did not want to think about or discuss politics. He felt that he had already lost the years of his youth and he wanted to establish a personal life and enjoy his freedom. But slowly he was drawn back into the discussion about prison camps in China and his own experiences. In 1986, Wu was asked to talk about his experiences in the camps in front of a class of college students at the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
. As Wu spoke he started to cry as he felt he was being the voice for the many seemingly forgotten prisoners who had died.


Focus on the ''laogai'' regime

In 1988 Wu met with the curator of the East Asian Studies department at the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
at
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
to explain his interest in studying China's network of forced-labor prison camps. Wu did not have academic experience in social studies, only that of a geologist, but his stories about his time in the camps intrigued the curator, who invited Wu to pursue research as a visiting scholar. From that time on, Wu started compiling a catalog of the labor prison camp system within mainland China. Known in China as the ''
laogai ''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK). ''Láogǎi'' i ...
'', which translates as "reform through labor", Wu eventually published ''Laogai: The Chinese Gulag'' in 1992. In the early 1990s, Wu made several trips into China in order to gather the evidence needed to prove the existence of the labor camps to the outside world — part of this involved visiting various camps and secretly recording images in photo and video. In 1990, Senators
Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as a President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1 ...
(D-Calif.), and
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...
(R-N.C.) invited Wu to testify before the Senate on ''laogai''. In 1991, Wu did a story with
Ed Bradley Edward Rudolph Bradley Jr. (June 22, 1941 – November 9, 2006) was an American broadcast journalist and news anchor. He was best known for his reporting on ''60 Minutes'' and CBS News. Bradley began his journalism career as a radio news repo ...
for ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'', in which they posed as businessmen interested in purchasing factory goods in mainland China that had been manufactured by the slave labor of Chinese prisoners. In 1992, Wu established the
Laogai Research Foundation The Laogai Research Foundation is a human rights NGO located in Washington, D.C, United States. The foundation's mission is to "gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai—China's extensive system of forced-labor prison camp ...
, a non-profit research and public education organization, considered a leading source for information on China's labor camps; and he was instrumental in proving that the organs of executed criminals were being used for
organ transplant Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpo ...
s. Among Wu's supporters was the
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
. In addition, the center's stated purpose is to also "document and publicize other systemic human rights violations in China, including ... the coercive enforcement of China's ' one-child' population control policy, and Internet censorship and surveillance." In 1995, by then a U.S. citizen, he was arrested as he tried to enter China with illegal documentation. He was held by the Chinese government for 66 days before he was convicted for "stealing state secrets". He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was instead immediately
deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
from China. He attributes his release to an international campaign launched on his behalf. In 2007, Wu criticized the selection of a Chinese sculptor,
Lei Yixin Lei Yixin (born 1954) is a prominent Chinese sculptor. Yixin designed the ''Stone of Hope'', the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the King Memorial near the United States National Mall. Childhood and education Lei was born to a family o ...
, as the lead sculptor for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial because Lei had also carved statues celebrating
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. In November 2008, Wu opened the
Laogai Museum The Laogai Museum is a museum in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C., United States, which showcases human rights in the People's Republic of China, focusing particularly on '' Láogǎi'', the Chinese prison system of "Reform through Labor". The crea ...
in Washington, D.C., calling it the first United States museum to directly address human rights in China.


Recognition

Wu received the Freedom Award from the Hungarian Freedom Fighters' Federation in 1991. In 1994 he received the first
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, sometimes called "the Nobel Prize for human rights", is an annual prize for human rights defenders. It was created in 1993 to honour and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate excep ...
. He was awarded the Courage of Conscience Award by the Peace Abbey in
Sherborn, Massachusetts Sherborn is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Boston's MetroWest region, is in area code 508 and has the ZIP code 01770. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town population was 4,401. Sherborn shares its highly ...
, on September 14, 1995 for his extraordinary sacrifices and commitment to exposing human rights violations in his motherland China. He received an honorary doctorate from the
Institute of World Politics The Institute of World Politics (IWP) is a private graduate school of national security, intelligence, and international affairs in Washington DC, and Reston, Virginia. Founded in 1990, it offers courses related to intelligence, national sec ...
in Washington, DC in 2012. In 1996, he was awarded the
Geuzenpenning The Geuzenpenning ('Beggar Medal') is a Dutch award given to persons or organizations who have fought for democracy and against dictatorship, racism and discrimination. It has been awarded annually since 1987 in the city of Vlaardingen. The Geuzen ...
, the Medal of Freedom from the Dutch World War II Resistance Foundation. He also received
honorary degrees An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from
Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...
and the
American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private, independent, and accredited liberal arts university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first to ...
. That same year, the
Columbia Human Rights Law Review The ''Columbia Human Rights Law Review'' is a law review established in 1967 focusing on human rights issues. Named the ''Columbia Survey of Human Rights Law'' for its first three volumes, the journal is produced and edited by students of Columbia ...
awarded Wu its second Award for Leadership in Human Rights. In 1997, Wu was presented with the Walter Judd Freedom Award by
The Fund for American Studies The Fund for American Studies is a conservative non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1967, the organization's mission is "to win over each new generation to the ideas of liberty, limited government and free markets." His ...
for being an outspoken voice against tyranny and oppression. Wu served as the Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation and the China Information Center. He was also a member of the International Council of the New York-based
Human Rights Foundation The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting and protecting human rights globally, with an emphasis on closed societies. HRF organizes the Oslo Freedom Forum. The Human Rights Foundation was founded in ...
. He was a member of the international advisory council of the
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) is a non-profit anti-communist organization in the United States, authorized by a unanimous Act of Congress in 1993 for the purpose of "educating Americans about the ideology, history and legacy ...
.


Lawsuits

In 2007, Wu helped the relatives of Chinese dissidents Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao sue
Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
, which had disclosed their IP addresses to the Chinese government, leading to their arrest and imprisonment. Yahoo settled the lawsuit by establishing a $17 million fund to compensate and help Chinese dissidents, and chose Wu as its administrator. In January 2011, Wang and his wife Yu Ling sued Wu, who allegedly demanded $1 million in kickbacks from Yu for his Laogai Research Foundation. Wu stated that Yu had willingly donated the money. The case was settled in April 2012 when Wu repaid the $1 million to Yu. Wu's alleged mishandling of the millions from Yahoo alienated him from many in the human rights community. Seven Chinese dissidents signed an open letter stating that Wu had spent $14–15 million of the Yahoo fund from 2008 to 2015, but only $700,000 was used to help Chinese dissidents. In March 2015, a Virginia woman named Wang Jing publicly accused Wu of sexually assaulting her and three underage girls, the daughters of Chinese dissidents who were under her guardianship, in late 2013. Wu denied the accusation. Wang filed a lawsuit against Wu with the
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...
Circuit Court, and the case was scheduled to go on trial in January 2017.


Death

Wu died in
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
on April 26, 2016, at the age of 79 while he was vacationing there with friends. He was survived by his former wife, Ching Lee, and a son, Harrison.


Books


''Laogai: The Chinese Gulag''
(1992), the first full account of the Chinese labor camp system.
''Bitter Winds''
(1994), a memoir of his time in the camps.
''Troublemaker''
(1996), an account of Wu's clandestine trips to China and his detention in 1995.
''Thunderstorm in the Night''
(2003), Wu's first Chinese language book; an autobiography that spans his entire life. * ''New Ghosts, Old Ghosts, Prisons and Labor Reform Camps in China'' (1999), by James Seymour and Richard Anderson * Peter Braaksma (Editor), ''Nine Lives: Making the Impossible Possible'' (2009),
New Internationalist ''New Internationalist'' (''NI'') is an international publisher and left-wing magazine based in Oxford, England, owned and run by a worker-run co-operative with a non-hierarchical structure. Known for its strict editorial and environmental pol ...
Publications, which tells the stories of Wu & 8 others who, "operating outside the normal channels, have made the world a better, fairer place". * ''The Sunflower'' (1998), by Simon Wiesenthal, Hary James Cargas (Editor), Bonny V. Fetterman (Editor)


See also

*
Chinese dissidents This list consists of activists who are known as Chinese dissidents. The label is primarily applied to intellectuals who "push the boundaries" of society or criticize the policies of the government. Examples of the former include Wei Hui and Ji ...
*
Censorship in China Censorship in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is implemented or mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is one of strictest censorship regimes in the world. The government censors content for mainly polit ...


References


External links


The Laogai Research Foundation

NPR interview with Harry Wu, 1994
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Harry 1937 births 2016 deaths American human rights activists American torture victims Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by China Chinese anti-communists Chinese dissidents Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese human rights activists Chinese torture victims Chinese autobiographers People's Republic of China writers Writers from Shanghai Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign Chinese prisoners and detainees China University of Geosciences alumni