Wang Wanxing
Encyclopedia
Wang Wanxing is a prominent Chinese pro-democracy activist who has been a prisoner of conscience for 13 years in Chinese detention centres and psychiatric institutions called Ankang
. Wang was the only person to have been discharged from such an institution to a Western country. In 2005, he was released and now lives in exile in Germany.
, and attended a middle school in Beijing. His activism was influenced by the death of his grandmother, who starved to death in a rural famine.
In 1968, the communist authorities sent him to a collective farm in Heilongjiang
, a province next to the Russian border.
urging him to reinstate the then disgraced Deng Xiaoping
. He was arrested in the middle of the night and spent the next month in jail.
In 1976, with mass popular demonstrations
taking place in Tiananmen Square
following the death of Zhou Enlai
, Wang wrote to premier Hua Guofeng
again in an attempt to seek the rehabilitation of Deng. He was branded a "reactionary" and jailed for 17 months. In February 1979, after Deng had returned to power, Wang was allowed to go back to Beijing, where he took a job in a vegetable warehouse. Wang participated in the 1979 Democracy Wall Movement. He was involved in the student-led democracy movement of 1989, when he attempted to advise the students on strategy, and to mediate between them and the government. In December 1998, wrote an open letter to China's leaders, pleading for leniency against Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai
and Qin Yongmin, jailed for establishing the China Democracy Party
.
Wang was again arrested on June 4, 1992 when he, acting alone, unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square on the third anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
. He was swiftly arrested and locked up in a psychiatric hospital near Beijing, with a concocted diagnosis of "political monomania
".
The official record said: "He was diagnosed as suffering from 'paranoia
', and his dangerous behaviour was attributed to his state of delusion." He spent almost 13 years in an Ankang centre in nearby Fangshan
.
(PSB): Wang said he had to live in cells with psychotically disturbed inmates convicted of murder, and was forced to swallow chlorpromazine
, a psychoactive drug
three times a day. He reported under-staffing and described a regime of mismanagement and anarchy: there were only two nurses looking after seventy psychotic patients. Inmates died from abuses from staff and inmates—there was use of electric shock as treatment, and witnessed two deaths which resulted: one from a heart attack during electric acupuncture treatment and one person, Huang Youliang, -incarcerated for "persistently submitting petitions" – had been on hunger strike, and died while being force-fed by inmates.
In August 1999, he was discharged under pressure from Human Rights Watch
and Amnesty International
for a three-month trial period, subject to him having no contact with the media. On November 18, 1999, Wang asked the authorities if he could hold a press conference to discuss his confinement. Wang was forcibly removed from his home by eight public security officers and returned to Ankang psychiatric hospital in Beijing on November 23, 1999.
Following his release, in 2006, Wang was examined for two days by Dr. Raes and Dr. van der Meer, who said in a statement: "He was not suffering from any mental disorder that could justify his admission."
Ankang (asylum)
Ankang is a name shared by a number of psychiatric hospitals or asylums in China. The term literally means "peace and health [for the mentally ill]". Many of these institutions are prison-hospitals for holding prisoners judged to be mentally ill, and operate directly under the local Public...
. Wang was the only person to have been discharged from such an institution to a Western country. In 2005, he was released and now lives in exile in Germany.
Biography
Wang's parents were a labourer and an office worker. Wang grew up during the Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, and attended a middle school in Beijing. His activism was influenced by the death of his grandmother, who starved to death in a rural famine.
In 1968, the communist authorities sent him to a collective farm in Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
, a province next to the Russian border.
Activism
Whilst in the collective farm, he wrote a personal letter to MaoMao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
urging him to reinstate the then disgraced Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
. He was arrested in the middle of the night and spent the next month in jail.
In 1976, with mass popular demonstrations
Tiananmen Incident
The Tiananmen Incident took place on April 5, 1976 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The incident occurred on the traditional day of mourning, the Qingming Festival, after the Nanjing Incident, and was triggered by the death of Premier Zhou Enlai earlier that year...
taking place in Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
following the death of Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, Wang wrote to premier Hua Guofeng
Hua Guofeng
Su Zhu, better known by the nom de guerre Hua Guofeng , was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the Paramount Leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in 1976, he succeeded Zhou as the second Premier of the People's Republic of China...
again in an attempt to seek the rehabilitation of Deng. He was branded a "reactionary" and jailed for 17 months. In February 1979, after Deng had returned to power, Wang was allowed to go back to Beijing, where he took a job in a vegetable warehouse. Wang participated in the 1979 Democracy Wall Movement. He was involved in the student-led democracy movement of 1989, when he attempted to advise the students on strategy, and to mediate between them and the government. In December 1998, wrote an open letter to China's leaders, pleading for leniency against Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai
Wang Youcai
Wang Youcai , an active dissident of the Chinese democracy movement, was one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989...
and Qin Yongmin, jailed for establishing the China Democracy Party
China Democracy Party
Democracy Party of China is a political party that started in the People's Republic of China, and was banned by the Communist Party of China . The history of the DPC and its foundation date is unclear because it has many historical paths under different groups of founders...
.
Wang was again arrested on June 4, 1992 when he, acting alone, unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square on the third anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
. He was swiftly arrested and locked up in a psychiatric hospital near Beijing, with a concocted diagnosis of "political monomania
Monomania
In 19th century psychiatry, monomania is a single pathological preoccupation in an otherwise sound mind. Emotional monomania is that in which the patient is obsessed with only one emotion or several related to it; intellectual monomania is that which is related to only one kind of delirious idea...
".
The official record said: "He was diagnosed as suffering from 'paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
', and his dangerous behaviour was attributed to his state of delusion." He spent almost 13 years in an Ankang centre in nearby Fangshan
Fangshan
Fangshan may refer to the following places in mainland China or Taiwan:*Fangshan County , of Lüliang, Shanxi*Fangshan District , Beijing*Fangshan, Pingtung , township in Pingtung County, TaiwanTowns...
.
Inside Ankang
Wang described widespread abuses in the Beijing Ankang, which is under the control of the Public Security BureauPublic Security Bureau
In the People's Republic of China, a public security bureau refers to the government offices while the smaller offices are called Police posts which are similar in concept to the Japanese Kōban system) present in each province and municipality that handles policing , public security, and...
(PSB): Wang said he had to live in cells with psychotically disturbed inmates convicted of murder, and was forced to swallow chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine is a typical antipsychotic...
, a psychoactive drug
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
three times a day. He reported under-staffing and described a regime of mismanagement and anarchy: there were only two nurses looking after seventy psychotic patients. Inmates died from abuses from staff and inmates—there was use of electric shock as treatment, and witnessed two deaths which resulted: one from a heart attack during electric acupuncture treatment and one person, Huang Youliang, -incarcerated for "persistently submitting petitions" – had been on hunger strike, and died while being force-fed by inmates.
In August 1999, he was discharged under pressure from Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
for a three-month trial period, subject to him having no contact with the media. On November 18, 1999, Wang asked the authorities if he could hold a press conference to discuss his confinement. Wang was forcibly removed from his home by eight public security officers and returned to Ankang psychiatric hospital in Beijing on November 23, 1999.
Release and exile
August 16, 2005, the authorities released him and unexpectedly deported him to Germany.Following his release, in 2006, Wang was examined for two days by Dr. Raes and Dr. van der Meer, who said in a statement: "He was not suffering from any mental disorder that could justify his admission."