| Wang Wenyi | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 26, 1958 Changchun, Jilin, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | Baiqiuen Medical School University of Chicago |
| Occupation | pathologist, journalist, Activist |
Wang Wenyi (Chinese: 王文怡; pinyin: Wáng Wényí; born 26 October 1958 in Changchun, Jilin) is a pathologist who once worked as a journalist for The Epoch Times. She is known for having confronted President Jiang Zemin in 2001, and for heckling President Hu Jintao on 20 April 2006. According to press reports, she was protesting against human rights abuse in China.[1]
Contents |
Wang Wenyi is a Chinese national who graduated as a medical doctor from the Baiqiuen Medical School, now part of Jilin University, China in 1983; holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Chicago,[2] and completed her residency as a pathologist at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital.[2]
She is a mother of two,[3] a naturalised U.S. citizen[4] who has lived in the United States for 20 years of her life, and who worked as a journalist for the Epoch Times,[5][6] where she specialised in medical issues since about 2000.[7] Wang had helped researching Epoch Times articles on organ harvesting.
In 2001, she penetrated a security cordon in Malta during a visit of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and accosted him.[8] Again, in April 2006, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States, she used her journalist pass to gain access to a White House lawn press briefing.[6] She unfurled protest banners and loudly shouted for over two minutes, by some accounts, during a speech given by Mr. Hu.[5]
She shouted comments "President Hu, your days are numbered". CNN and BBC feeds of Hu's visit were interrupted by state censors in China, blacking out the protester's action.[9] Secret Service ushered Wang away from the media platform. Wang's attorney stated that there was no evidence Hu heard the statements uttered, claiming that the scuffles to take away her banner and the attempt to silence her could have caused Hu to pause in his remarks.[7]
The Epoch Times reported that Wang helped research articles on organ harvesting at Sujiatun. She was "very overstressed," Epoch Times said, "When she saw Bush shake the hand of the Chinese leader, she felt obligated to speak out".[7] At the time of the protest, she was not a US citizen, and could have faced deportation.[3]
After spending the night in jail, Wang was formally charged on 21 April 2006 with "knowingly and wilfully intimidating, coercing, threatening or harassing … a foreign official performing his duties," a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of $5,000.[2] Bush apologised to the Chinese for the protest incident;[10] Epoch Times also made an apology[11] to the US President.[7]
Wang said to reporters: "What I did was say just a few words at a moment in history. It was an act of conscience and an act of civil disobedience."[2] She was released without bail pending further proceedings.[12] She was charged with disorderly conduct;[2] on 21 June 2006, the U.S. Court in Washington D.C. dropped all charges.[13] Two weeks later on 16 May 2006, Wang attended a media conference at the National Press Club with two recently released Falun Gong prisoners by her side to once again accuse China of secret organ harvesting.[14][15]