THEN AND NOW: STUDENT ACTIVISTS
LI LU
Li Lu was a courageous, passionate character who took part and was a student leader in the Tiananmen Square student protests. For years, he and his fellow friends fought for the rights of democracy. Soon, military took over, and being in Tiananmen Square was dangerous. He finally escaped and left China through Operation Yellowbird. After he got out of China he studied at Columbia University. In 1990, he published a book about his experiences named Moving the Mountain: My Life in China. He graduated from Colombia in 1996 and received three degrees: a B.A. in Economics, a M.B.A. and a J.D. in 1996. After hearing Warren Buffett, a Columbia Alumnus, give a lecture in Columbia in 1993, Li Lu was inspired to get into banking. After graduating, Li Lu spent the next few years working in an investment bank. There, he formed Himalaya Capital Management. Between 1998 and 2004, not only did he manage a hedge fund, but he also managed a venture capital fund. He is known by many as the “man who introduced the Chinese battery and automaker BYD Company to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet. In may of 2010, he helped to translate and publish the Chinese version of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger in China. In 2001, he was named a global leader for tomorrow. He currently works as an American investment banker, investor and fund manager in the United States.
WU'ER KAIXI
Wu’er Kaixi was one of the most outspoken student leaders in the Tiananmen Square student protests. He was a passionate and courageous leader and he encountered a “hell” of a scene when the military took over. After the protests, Wu’er Kaixi was put on China’s most wanted list. Like many student leaders, he needed to flee from China. He did so through Operation Yellowbird. After escaping to Hong Kong, he made his way over to France. He then moved to the United States and studied at Harvard University. After around a year of study, he moved to San Francisco and studied at Dominican University. Afterward, he moved to Taiwan and got married to a Taiwanese wife. Soon, he had kids and had a family to look after. From 1998 to 2001, he was a talk show host for a local radio station. In 2002, he was baptized. He has written many articles, in both Chinese and English and some of his articles have ended up on the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and Far Eastern Economic. One of his pieces, “China Mocks the Spirits of the Olympics: has won the Human Rights Press Awards Special Merit Award. Later, he worked as CEO of an internet Chinese article digest. Even though almost 20 years have passed, he is still the second most wanted person in China for his role at Tiananmen. This isn’t TOO bad for Wu’er because he wants to get arrested. Anything to live in his homeland. Once he went into Macau on transit to China. He surrendered and begged to be arrested. The authorities instead, sent him back to Taiwan. He also tried to turn himself into the Chinese Embassy of Japan, as well as the Chinese embassy in Washington DC. He currently works as a political commentator in Taiwan.
CHAI LING
Chai Ling also participated in the Tiananmen Square student protests. She, and many others were fighting for political reform in 1987. She was known as the “general commander” during the protests and was in charge of many of the hunger strikes. She was listed as one of the 21 most wanted in China. Once she fled, she hid for 10 months, until finally flying to Paris. There, she accepted a full scholarship into Princeton University and received a Masters in Political Science. Next, she moved to Harvard Business School to complete an MBA. In 1998, she founded an Internet company named Jenzabar. They provide ERP software to universities in the US. In 2010, she created a nonprofit named “All Girls Allowed”. Its aim is to stop the human rights violation of the One Child Policy. In October 2011, she wrote a book named “A Heart for Freedom” which was a personal memoir about the struggle for freedom and Tiananmen Square. Currently, she works as the Founder of All Girls Allowed and works everyday to push for equal rights. She is now a millionaire. She has 3 daughters and is married to a politician.
WANG CHAOHUA
Wang Chaohua was one of the few student leaders who were brave enough to lead a load of other kids to try to make a change in China. She is one of few who were the most wanted in China and still got away. She had to spend more than six months in hiding before she could escape China. She was helped by Hong Kong through Operation Yellowbird to escape China and to be able to go to California. She is one of the only student leaders at the reunion that blames herself for the student’s death at tiananmen square. She was on the 21 most wanted list in China. She was one of the student leaders. She feels that she was the reason why a lot of kids died at tiananmen square. Helped edit ‘One China, Many Paths’ She is not a freelance essayist and researcher. She got a PhD from the University of California.
WANG DAN
Wang Dan was the leader Chinese democracy movement. He was arrested after the massacre and was put into prison for 5 years. He is now the chairman of Constitutional Reform Association. He is also a member of the Advisory of WikiLeaks. Now he teaches History of the PRC. He continues to try his best politically to change China. Wang Dan is kept out of China now because China thinks he is too big of a threat because he still continues to try and change China and its government. China doesn’t even really want Wang Dan in their prisons because everytime Wang Dan gets out of jail in China, he feels more powerful and more willing to go against the Chinese government. Wang Dan was rescued by America. They came to China to ask China to realise Wang Dan so that they could make some political agreements.
WEI JINGSHENG
Wei Jingsheng was kept in prison for 14 years for being a counterrevolutionary. After he got out, he started speaking to many journalists which ended up in him getting put back in prison for another 3 years. He then created the Wei Jingsheng Foundation which he made so that he could work on improving China’s Democracy and improving human rights in China. He is now a writer, a Democratic activist, and works for Human rights.