Weiquan Movement - International Response

International Response

Although there is relatively little awareness of the Weiquan phenomenon as a movement outside of China, Western governments and human rights organizations have consistently expressed concern over the treatment of individual Weiquan lawyers in China, some of whom have faced disbarment, imprisonment, prolonged disappearance, sentencing and alleged torture for their work in promoting civil rights and speaking out against one-party rule. In October 2010, a bipartisan group of 29 members of the U.S. House of Representatives pressed President Obama to raise the cases of Liu Xiaobo and Gao Zhisheng with the Chinese leadership, writing of Gao Zhizheng's prolonged detention: "If lawyers are hauled away for the "crime" of defending their clients, then even the pretense of rule of law in China has failed." The U.S. State Department claims to have raised the cases of these two individuals with their Chinese counterparts.

In 2008, Hu Jia was awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament recognizing his human rights advocacy. The same year, Hu and Gao Zhisheng received nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, and were considered to be favorites for the award. Two years later, seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives nominated imprisoned lawyers Gao Zhisheng and Chen Guangcheng, along with fellow dissident Liu Xiaobo for the prize. The letter noted that these individuals have sought to "raise the Chinese people’s awareness of their dignity and rights, and to call their government to govern within its constitution, its laws, and the international human rights agreements it has signed," and thereby made a significant contribution to peace. The Nobel Prize Committee awarded the honor to Liu in absentia in December 2010.