| Wu'erkaixi | |||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 吾尔开希•多莱特 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 吾爾開希•多萊特 | ||||||||
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| Uyghur name | |||||||||
| Uyghur |
ئۆركەش دۆلەت
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Wu'erkaixi (吾尔开希; born 17 February 1968) was a Mainland Chinese student leader in the Tiananmen protests of 1989. He was born in Beijing, with the origin of Yili, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Uyghur ethnicity. He achieved prominence while studying at Beijing Normal University as a hunger striker who rebuked Chinese Premier Li Peng on national television. He now resides in Taiwan as a political commentator.
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Wu'erkaixi arrived on scene in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in late April 1989, after he founded an independent student’s association at Beijing Normal University. He quickly emerged as one of the most outspoken student leaders as the size of crowds increased. According to Eddie Cheng, at a hastily convened meeting to form the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation and elect its leader, Zhou Yongjun of the University of Political Science and Law narrowly defeated Wu'erkaixi to be its first president.[1]
Upon meeting Premier Li Peng for the first time in May 1989, in an encounter recorded on national television, Wu'erkaixi interrupted Li during his introduction, saying “I understand it is quite rude of me to interrupt you, Premier, but there are people sitting out there in the square, being hungry, as we sit here and exchange pleasantries. We are only here to discuss concrete matters, sir.” After being interrupted by Li, who said that he was being somewhat impolite, Wu'erkaixi continued. “Sir, you said you are here late [because of traffic congestion]... we’ve actually been calling you to talk to us since 22 April. It’s not that you are late, it’s that you’re here too late. But that’s fine. It’s good that you are able to come here at all...”[2][3]
After the protests, Wu'erkaixi was put on China's list of people most wanted for the demonstrations. He fled to France through Hong Kong under the aegis of Operation Yellowbird,[4] and then studied at Harvard University in the United States. He failed to graduate from Harvard University. Afterward he emigrated to Taiwan, where he has started a family. He was a talk show host for a local radio station from 1998 to 2001.[5]
He also appears frequently on television programs as a political commentator, although his stand points has been defending the growing democracy in the island, and promoting civil society, but because his strong criticism toward the ruling party DPP, he was seen as a "Pan Blue" supporter; He has also been reported as a “reunificationist” who supports the idea of “One China Under Democracy” (that is, the reunification of mainland China and Taiwan under a democratic political system, which has been touted by the Pan-Blue Coalition in the past). There were reports by the “pan green” media suggest that he has expressed his hope of taking part in Legislative Yuan elections as a representative of Kuomintang, and was not nominated as one of the party’s candidates, however, that report was strongly denied by himself, and there has been no proof found for the story.
He has written many articles in Chinese and English and was published by prominent media including the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and Far Eastern Economic Review. His essay "China Mocks the Spirits of the Olympics" has won the Human Rights Press Awards Special Merit Award.
He has worked as CEO of an internet Chinese article digest and portal company; served as vice general manager of an internet based broadcasting company; COO of an internet incubation company; and co-founder of a multi-media management software company. In 2006, he was recruited by an international investment fund to run their Taiwan based Asia Pacific operation for his high tech corporate finance background.
After 20 years, he is still the second most wanted person in mainland China for his role at Tiananmen. On 3 June 2009, he arrived in Macao on transit to mainland China intending to surrender and clear his name in court. The Macao authorities refused to arrest him and had him deported to Taiwan.[6]
In 2009, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou praised the progress on human rights in China in his comment on the 20th anniversary of the Tian'anmen incident of 1989. Wu'erkaixi criticized the comment of Ma, saying that he could not understand what progess on human rights Ma meant.[7]
On June 4, 2010, he was arrested by the Japanese police in Tokyo, when he tried to force his way into the Chinese Embassy in order to turn himself in. He was released two days later without charge.[8]
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