Wei Jingsheng Foundation

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A42-G15
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A42-G15
Release Date: November 27, 2003
发布日：2003年11月27日
Topic: Report to Our Supporters and Readers
标题：魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议报告

Dear supporters and readers,

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the 1st anniversary of our newsletter release. We have a lot to report to you. Thanks for your past support and communications, we are doing better and better everyday.

Here we would like to give you a brief summary of what we have done, which can be divided into two separate parts. The first half of the report is directly associated with you, concentrating on our high-tech effort including Internet use and communications （my pet project :)）. The second half of the report mainly outlines what the Wei Jingsheng Foundation and the Overseas Democracy Coalition have done in the past.

Part 1: Our high-tech effort:

1. Our newsletters:

Since Thanksgiving of 2002, we have released 42 issues of our dual-language newsletters. Currently, we have several thousands of subscribers from about 40 countries. We also encourage our friends and members to further distribute our news, especially to China. To our knowledge, some of our newsletters have been distributed in China to hundreds of thousands of readers. And, we have received responses from inside China as well.

These newsletters are effective communication channels between our readers, supporters and us. We have suppressed our distribution to a pace of about once a week in an effort of not over burdens our readers with our newsletters. Here we want to apologize to those of you who have submitted to us articles for publication yet were unable to get them published for this reason. For those of you whose articles finally did get published, we also want to make our apology for the delay. Translation is a time consuming burden and we are often tied up by other more demanding urgent affairs.

For those of you who would like to get our newsletters, please contact us at: news@WeiJingSheng.org to subscribe (or unsubscribe). Please allow us some delay time to process your requests.

2. Our websites:

We currently have two main websites, both started near the end of year 2002. One is www.ChinaLaborUnion.org, which is mainly in Chinese and concentrates on China Labor issues, current affairs in China, and current Chinese laws especially labor laws. The other website is www.WeiJingSheng.org which covers a wide range of issues with more concentration on what Wei Jingsheng himself, the Wei Jingsheng Foundation, and Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition have been doing.

Our websites are our most important means for us to cover the whole globe. Since their inception, we have already received millions of site "requests" with a total of more than a hundred thousand hits from more than 50 countries. For the first several months, the hits were doubling every month. It has been relatively stable now. As of October 2003, just for the www.WeiJingSheng.org site alone, we reached highest average daily hits of more than 1500 and daily visitors of 150. Many of them came from Mainland China due to temporary security lapses that allowed even average Internet users to land our sites. For many November days, we had at least 200 to 300 visitors each day.

Our websites and related articles have been listed and referred to in many places, and are linked with at least two dozen important sites, including but not limited to the mainstream Chinese websites, human rights and democracy sites, US government sites, etc. Several mirror sites have also helped us to reach out, preventing us from disconnection by temporary shutdowns and sabotage by hackers, as well as to referring readers to us constantly.

3. Search engines:

After one-year effort, our websites have come from none to the front page or even the top of the word searches on Yahoo.com and Google.com, etc. on related subjects, especially issues about Wei Jingsheng, the Foundation and Chinese labor. About half of the most common search words are English, while the other half are Chinese.

Of the several thousand words which brought our readers to our sites, the most often used search words are: Wei Jingsheng, Chinese Labor, workers, China, Chinese, Communism, media, and legal, etc. In search of "Wei Jingsheng" in English, one can find more than ten thousand entries. (On google.com, our site ranks the 3rd of 14,600 entries. On Yahoo.com, our site ranks 2nd out of 9,780 entries.). "Wei Jingsheng" in Chinese produces more entries. (On google, we are ranked as the 1st of 20,300 entries. On Yahoo, we are ranked also as the 1st of the 13,800 entries.) In search of "Chinese labor", we are ranked as the 1st of 1,380,000 entries on google, and ranked as the 1st of 915,000 entries on Yahoo!)

4. Our CD distribution

Presently, we are working on a massive distribution of CD's that will contain a wide range of information, including Wei's work, Chinese labor conditions (including Chinese labor law, etc.), the last several years of China news, and other information about our foundation and our Labor Union work. We still have a little space left for a 650MB CD-R and welcome your input in this regard. We will also be glad to send you a copy if you have a willingness and means to duplicate it and send it into China. Please contact HuangCiPing@WeiJingSheng.org for detail.

Part 2: Wei Jingsheng Foundation and Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition work report

Here is a brief outline of our work report, although small portions of our public activities are selectively published in our newsletters already.

Our work can be divided into several aspects.

1. Work inside China. We maintain a constant contact with different groups/persons inside China via different channels and methods. Some are decades old connections; some are people who came to us due to Wei's name recognition. We give them advice and consultation, as well as help them internationally whenever we can. However, for the more successful work, we do not claim credit for either the foundation, or Mr. Wei himself.

2. Our people Overseas. Mr. Wei heads the coalition that is composed of nearly a dozen overseas Chinese democracy organizations. Our members are in over twenty countries. Besides having fairly regular conventions for the coalition, we maintain part of our Mainland China contact through these members. Also of importance is their contact to the local governments and parliaments, and organizations of their residence, etc.

3. Our work overseas. Due to Wei's name recognition, we have been able to establish and maintain many contacts Overseas. Especially, we ask both the United Nations and democratic Western countries to pay attention to the Chinese human rights condition and push for a democratic process via means of their governments, parliaments/congress and NGO's.

We have been attending the United Nations' human rights convention in Geneva yearly, and giving speeches in the UN, as well as organizing forums inside the UN regarding Chinese human rights conditions. Mr. Wei also is regularly invited for conferences and appearances in different countries, and to meet with parliament members and government officials as well as NGO's to discuss China affairs. Taking last year as an example, Wei visited several European countries. He also visited Australia and New Zealand each twice for such meetings and other affairs, as well as to give lectures (the largest ones in local communities with 500 or so people attending). Wei gave lectures in various universities and institutions. Wei also visited Taiwan and met with various persons, including high officials, scholars and news media virtually every year.

The foundation's Executive Director, Ms. Ciping Huang, is particularly active with the US Congress & European Parliament and other US & European partners, with her more than a decade of human rights and Chinese democracy effort. She had presented several articles in various places, especially the CECC (Congressional Executive Commission on China), regarding Chinese human rights conditions.

4. We keep constant contact with other organizations/groups, both Chinese and non-Chinese. We have maintained contacts with other human rights groups, in particular recently with FaLunGong practitioners and underground Chinese Christians, with both media publicity work and documentation of persecuted Chinese Christians. We also keep a close contact with worldwide scholars, journalists and writers who are interested and expert on human rights and China affairs.

5. Mr. Wei Jingsheng has a weekly commentary program on China through Radio Free Asia. He also makes regular appearances on other news media such as Voice of America, BBC, and other Chinese TV and radio stations in USA, Canada, Europe and Taiwan. His articles appear in major newspapers such as the International Harold Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, Figaro, etc. Last year he published a book in Taiwan with "the father of Taiwanese democracy", Mr. Shi M. D. He started a draft for his autobiography and is still working on it.

6. Our best resource is Wei's name recognition and his continued effort for Chinese human rights and democracy, along with many volunteers and their help for our projects. Our worst problem is a lack of financial resources, along with Wei's poor health, which affects our productivity and efficiency. For those of you who genuinely support Chinese democracy and human rights with an intention to donate, please note that the Wei Jingsheng Foundation is a non-profit organization that will provide a tax-exempt receipt for your donations.

Finally, please make a note if you have not that as of July 1, 2003 our office has been moved to a new address:
415 East Capital Street, SE, 2nd floor, Suite 2
Washington, DC 20003
Our office phone is: 1-202-543-1538
Our office fax is: 1-202-543-1539
Our contact e-mail address is: HCP@WeiJingSheng.org

Thank you very much for reading and we wish you a happy holiday season.

-- Ciping Huang
Executive Director, Wei Jingsheng Foundation
Secretary General, Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition

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Although we are unable to afford to pay royalty fees at this time, we are seeking your contribution as well. You may send your articles, comments and opinions to: HCP@weijingsheng.org. Please remember, only in text files, not in attachments.

For website issues and suggestions, you may contact our professional staff and web master at: webmaster@Weijingsheng.org

To find out more about us, please also visit our websites at:
www.WeiJingSheng.org and
www.ChinaLaborUnion.org
for news and information for Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition and human
rights and democracy movement as whole, especially our Chinese Labor Union
Base.

You may contact Ciping Huang at: HCP@Weijingsheng.org or
1-516-384-1958 for emergency or
Wei Jingsheng Foundation office in Washington DC at: 1-202-543-1538 (Wei WU)
Fax: 1-202-543-1539
Wei Jingsheng Foundation's address is: 415 East Capitol Street, SE, Suite #2, Washington, DC 20003-3810, USA

This is a message from WeiJingSheng.org and weijingsheng.net

You are receiving this message because you had previous shown your interest in
learning more about Mr. Wei Jingsheng and the Chinese Democratic Movement.
To be removed from the list, simply reply this message and use "unsubscribe" as the Subject.

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A42-G15
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A42-G15

Release Date: November 27, 2003
发布日：2003年11月27日

Topic: Wei Jingsheng Foundation Report to Our Supporters and Readers
标题：魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议报告

Original Language Version: English
(English at beginning, Chinese version at the end)
Please visit our website if you have problem to read Chinese in this issue
此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议以推动中国的人权与民主为己任。
我们欢迎任何形式的帮助与贡献。我们愿与世界上为人权与民主而奋斗的人们一起努力。

我们希望您能够帮助我们散发我们的资料。但请标明出处与我们的网址：
www.weijingsheng.org

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尊敬的支持者及读者们，

感恩节好！

我们的新闻与文章发布已进入了第二个年头。这与您们的直接交流与鼓励是分不开的。在此特表谢意！

此期我们将向您们汇报我们的工作。前半主要是有关我们的高技术方面的努力及成果。后半则是有关魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联系会议的总的工作报告。

第一部分：有关我们的高技术方面的努力及成果

一：新闻发布

自2002年感恩节至今已经发布了42次中英文的新闻发布，具有几千名订阅者，遍布40 来个国家。收到了成功的效果。新闻发布还通过朋友以及志愿者的帮忙传递到中国大陆，虽然是不定期的，但有的一期最起码有几十万次。

虽然我们受到了很多来稿。我们需要抱歉的是，由于我们将新闻发布局限在每周一次左右，我们的采用很有限。加上翻译本身是一个很耗时耗力的工作，以至于发表的文章也常常拖了很久。特此抱歉！

二: 我们的网站

2002年10月以来，基金会已经建立了自己的网站。我们的网址是：www.ChinaLaborUnion.org （以中国劳工问题及其它话题为主）与www.WeiJingSheng.org （以魏京生，魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议为主）。

网站每个月的浏览量都在成倍地增加，以2003年10月为例，网上的要求率为百万，点击率为十万。现在每个月达到起码有数千人次上网，人员来自50多个国家，包括中国大陆。2003年10月，网站达到了最高的阅读量，每天起码有两三百人。

三：网上搜索

一年后的今天，我们从无到有，很快就走到了网上搜索（如Yahoo! 及google）的前列。尤其是，魏京生(Wei Jingsheng)的中英文名，及中国劳工的英文名(Chinese Labor)等。

四：制作光盘

现在，我们正在设法大量制作光盘，把许多信息存入光盘，包括魏京生先生的文章、中国工人现状报告（包括中国劳工法等等）、最近几年的国内新闻，以及有关基金会的信息和我们的工会内容。欢迎索取与意见。（有关事项请联系：HuangCiPing@WeiJingSheng.org）

第二部分：有关魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议的总的工作报告

基金会的主要活动都选登在定期发行的新闻发布里了，但这里是有关的总结性的工作报告。

我们的活动主要分为以下几个方面。

1）大陆方面的活动。

我们通过各种渠道，和不同的组织、个人保持不定期的联系。其中有一些是长达几十年的联系，有一些则因为魏先生而慕名而来。通常我们向他们提供建议和咨询，并且在国际范围内尽可能地帮助他们。不过，我们并不把他们在大陆工作的成就归功于基金会或是魏先生本人。

2）海外人员的联络。

中国民主运动海外联席会议由多个海外中国民主组织组成。成员分布于20多个国家。除了举行中国民主运动海外联席会议的会议以外，我们还通过这些成员保持与中国大陆的联系，以及与当地国家政府、议会、组织团体的接触。

3）海外活动方面。

由于魏京生的名声，我们能够建立并且维持许多海外的联系。特别是，我们要求联合国以及西方民主国家密切关注中国人权状况，通过他们本国政府、议会/国会以及非政府机构等各种渠道来推进中国的民主进程。我们每年都参加日内瓦联合国人权年会，并在年会上发言，同时在联合国内组织中国人权论坛。魏先生本人也经常被邀请参加在不同国家召开的会议和会谈，在和当地议会成员、政府官员以及非政府机构成员的交谈中商讨中国事务。就去年为例，魏先生得到了数个欧洲国家的邀请，并数次前往参加各项活动。他还两度访问了澳洲和新西兰，参加会谈并给与讲演（一次最大的地方讲演吸引了500多个听众）。魏先生还到各个大学和研究机构讲演。同时，魏先生几乎每年都访问台湾，接触台湾的不同阶层人士，包括高级官员、学者和新闻媒体。为中国民主和人权状况努力工作了十几年的黄慈萍女士，则主要负责和美国国会，欧洲议会以及其他美欧各界人士的接触。她多次就中国人权问题在各种场合下发表文章和讲演，特别是多次在美国国会中国事务委员会的听证会上发言。

4）和其他海内外组织团体保持联系。

我们和其他人权组织建立并保持联系，特别是利用新闻媒介和记录中国基督徒的不公正待遇来声援法论功和中国地下基督教会。

5）新闻媒介方面。

每周，魏京生先生在自由亚洲电台做有关中国事务的评论节目。他还经常出现在各种新闻媒介上，比如美国之音，以及其它在美国、加拿大、欧洲和台湾的中文电台和电视上。他的文章多次在重大报纸上发表，比如《国际先驱论坛》、《华尔街时报》、《华盛顿邮报》、《纽约时报》、《今日美国》、《Figaro》等等。去年，魏先生在台湾与台湾民主之父施明德一起出版了新的著作。目前，他正在撰写传记。

最后要说的是，我们最宝贵的资源是魏先生本人的名声以及他多年来为中国人权奋斗的经历，还有众多的志愿者的各种帮助。我们最大的问题是缺少资金，以及魏先生的健康状况欠佳，这影响了我们工作的效率和成果。

另外，请注意，2003年7月1日以后，基金会办公室搬迁到了新的地址：
415 East Capital Street, SE, 2nd floor, Suite 2
Washington, DC 20003
办公室电话: 1-202-543-1538
办公室电传： 1-202-543-1539
联系人电子邮件地址: HCP@WeiJingSheng.org

-- 黄慈萍
魏京生基金会执行主任
中国民主运动海外联席会议秘书长

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魏京生办公室地址: 415 East Capitol Street, SE, Suite #2
Washington, DC 20003-3810
U.S.A.
电话: 1-202-543-1538
1-516-384-1958 (紧急联系黄慈萍)

魏京生基金会网址：WWW.weijingsheng.org
中国民主运动海外联席会议及中国团结工会的网址为：
www.ChinaLaborUnion.org

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