Wei Jingsheng is 76 years old as of October 2026. He was born on 20 May 1950.
Quick facts
Date of birth20 May 1950
Age76
NationalityChinese
BirthplaceBeijing, People's Republic of China
Editor's Take:
Wei Jingsheng challenged Deng Xiaoping's reforms at the very moment they began. He said economic change without democracy was not enough. That essay, pasted on Beijing's Democracy Wall, cost him almost two decades of freedom. He was released only to be jailed again. Exile in America kept him free but far from home. He is still a symbol of China's democracy movement. He has kept campaigning from abroad ever since.
Key Milestones
1978: Posts The Fifth Modernization on Democracy Wall
1979: Sentenced to 15 years
1996: Wins the Sakharov Prize
1997: Released into exile
Wei Jingsheng (Chinese: 魏京生; born 20 May 1950) is a Chinese human rights activist and dissident. He is best known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement.
