Ren Wanding (born c. 1944) is a

Chinese dissident 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 Jia ...

who was jailed several times for his pro-democracy activism. He is the founder of the China Human Rights League.

Biography

In the late 1970s, he was jailed for four years for his leadership of the

Democracy Wall From November 1978 to December 1979, thousands of people put up " big character posters" on a long brick wall of Xidan Street, Xicheng District of Beijing, to protest about the political and social issues of China. Under acquiescence of the Chines ...

movement. After his release, he worked as an accountant. In 1988, he published an essay through foreign press commemorating the movement's tenth anniversary. When asked if he feared a second imprisonment, Ren replied, "I went through some very frightening experiences ... But China has no democracy and no human rights, and its living standard is too low. These are even more frightening." In 1989, he was arrested again for speaking at the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. Ren was the only one of the 71 arrested dissidents who did not recant his position when on trial. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, leading

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

to name him a prisoner of conscience. In 1992, authorities evicted Ren's wife and daughter from their home. Ren was reported to be suffering from untreated

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

s and severe

haemorrhoids Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hemo ...

in 1993, leading AI to issue a medical alert on his behalf. While still imprisoned, he won the 1994

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, was created by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in 1984, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights to honour individuals around the world who have shown great courage and have made a significant contr ...

. He was released in June 1996 after serving his full sentence. After Ren's release, he attempted to register the China Democracy Party (CDP) as a legal political party, but police officers were stationed outside his home to stop him from filing the application. The incident caused a split in the leadership of the dissident movement when fellow dissident

Xu Wenli Xu Wenli () (born on 9 July 1943), is from Anqing, located in the Southeastern province of Anhui, China. As one of the leaders of the China Democracy Party, Xu organized and participated in the Democracy Wall movement and acted as the chief edi ...

founded his own branch of the CDP as a rival to Ren's. Ren stated that Xu was "raping the party" and "stepping on others" in his ambition, while Xu called Ren a "weak person" who had renounced his claim to lead the party. In 2001, Ren supported China's successful bid for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, stating that he hoped the event would empower the reform movement: "China needs to improve its human rights ... Opposing the Olympics won't help reach that goal." In 2007, Chinese authorities gave him permission to visit

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Ren has a wife, Zhang Fengying, and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ren, Wanding Living people 1940s births Chinese dissidents Chinese human rights activists Place of birth missing (living people) Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by China Chinese prisoners and detainees Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates