MCLC: typhoon allows Wang Dan to visit China

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Anne Henochowicz <annemh at alumni.upenn.edu>
Subject: typhoon allows Wang Dan to visit China
***********************************************************

Source: Wall Street Journal, China Real Time blog (8/2/12):
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/08/02/typhoon-allows-tiananmen-diss
ident-to-briefly-visit-china/?mod=WSJBlog

Typhoon Allows Tiananmen Dissident to Briefly Visit China
China Real Time Report - WSJ

In the end, a typhoon achieved what diplomacy couldn’t: it allowed exiled
Tiananmen Square dissident Wang Dan to visit China for the first time in
well over a decade.

After a typhoon diverted his Taiwan-bound flight to Hong Kong, Wang Dan
finally set foot on Chinese soil, something he’s tried to achieve for
years. Since he was exiled to the U.S. for participating in the Tiananmen
Square protests in 1989, Mr. Wang’s attempts have been frustrated.

Mr. Wang is one of the world’s most prominent Chinese dissidents, and for
a time was the country’s most famous political prisoner, serving two
prison sentences before being exiled to the U.S. in 1998. He’s viewed as a
hero in the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese
rule in 1997 but continues to maintain its own distinct political system
and freedoms, as well as its own fierce pro-democracy movement. Mr. Wang’s
recorded video messages calling for a freer China are regularly played at
the city’s annual vigil in remembrance of Tiananmen Square victims, which
this year attracted a record 180,000 participants.

News that Mr. Wang was unexpectedly in Hong Kong rippled through the city
this morning, as local reporters grabbed the opportunity as early as 5
a.m. to buy airplane tickets of their own and visit with the famed
dissident, who was stuck for hours in an airport transit hall. Hundreds of
locals left appreciative comments on Wang Dan’s Facebook page on Thursday,
where he chronicled his thoughts during his transit.

“It’s really too amazing, I’ve set foot on Hong Kong soil!” he wrote on
Thursday at 1 a.m., prompting a flurry of comments welcoming him in
response. As recently as last year, Mr. Wang was banned from entering Hong
Kong to attend the funeral of prominent local democracy activist Szeto Wah.

During his time in the airport, Mr. Wang wrote on his Facebook page about
how he’d eaten at McDonald’s and contemplated buying a Hong Kong T-shirt.
He interacted with fans online to request a loaned charger when his phone
began to die, and also pleaded for relief from the number of reporters who
set out to the Hong Kong airport to interview him, citing sheer
exhaustion. “Please forgive me, I haven’t rested for over 20 hours,” he
wrote, “and for the past three hours I’ve been answering the same kinds of
questions. I really can’t do it any longer. I’m so sorry!”

Hours later on Thursday afternoon, at 3pm, Mr. Wang reported that he’d
finally taken off again and arrived in Taiwan, where he’s currently
working as a teacher. “Teachers and friends and students in Taiwan, I’m
home!” he wrote.

A number of Hong Kong commenters immediately weighed in, offering comments
like that of one local resident who was saddened to see Mr. Wang leave:
“We’ll be waiting for you to come back to Hong Kong!”

– Te-Ping Chen. Follow her on Twitter @tepingchen
<http://twitter.com/tepingchen>