Han Dongfang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Han
Han Dongfang (韩东方) is the son of a peasant and, before the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, worked as an assistant librarian and a refrigeration engineer.
Han Dongfang is known primarily for his activities during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 after which he became a human rights activist.
In 1989 Han Dongfang was the convener of the Beijing Autonomous Workers Federation, the first independent labor organization in mainland China in 50 years. He wished to build a workers federation that could monitor the Communist Party of China, especially in their treatment of workers. The Workers Federation was shut down as the Tiananmen Square protests came to a bloody end on June 4, 1989.
After the June 4th massacre he was jailed for 22 months without trial during which time he contracted tuberculosis. He was released from jail on the verge of death and soon after received an American visa to travel for medical treatment. In the U.S. he recovered, though he lost the use of one of his lungs.
He currently lives in Hong Kong and continues to criticize mainland China's treatment of workers.
He set up a Hong Kong-based organization China Labour Bulletin in 1994 (http://gb.china-labour.org.hk).
