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Letter: Chinese dissident honored

Shi Tao (師濤) is a poet, a journalist, a writer and editor, as well as a devout Catholic and an active participant in the 1989 pro-democracy movement. His journalistic conscience and his concern for the exiles of the Tiananmen Incident led him to risk himself for a righteous cause.

He posted the contents of a central government gag order that forbade all Chinese media from marking the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Incident on the Internet, along with guidelines regarding the possibility of overseas democracy activists finding a way of entering China to commemorate the anniversary.

He did this to prevent these activists from suffering oppression a second time by losing their freedom by trying to re-enter China. Because of these actions, he has been accused by a fascistic state of leaking "state secrets" and given the absurdly heavy sentence of 10 years in prison.

We have decided to give the Fifth Chinese Youth Human Rights Award to Shi for his actions. In a world of moral degradation, material desire and decadence, Shi upheld his integrity as a journalist and the public's right to know.

He fearlessly propounded the ideas of freedom, democracy and human rights, and with the love, courage and actions of a St. Paul, expressed and passed on as a legacy the ideals of the Tiananmen generation.

We firmly believe that no prison will be able to confine the soul of this poet.

We firmly believe that because of the courage and determination of men like Shi, China will eventually become a free nation, of the people, ruled by the people and enjoyed by the people.

Wang Dan

Chinese Youth Human Rights Award Committee

Boston, Massachusetts

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