Famous dissident and winner of several human rights awards, Mr Wei Jingsheng, is one of numerous Chinese confirming the ongoing corruption in the Chinese Communist Party to the Western world; bringing to light the magnitude of human rights abuses the regime carries out.
The lecture hall in Wellington's Victoria University filled quickly as Mr Wei spoke effortlessly about his 18-year ordeal in Chinese prisons and labour camps and his quest to speak out for democracy in China.
"In the cities [of China] nobody is happy...because they live in an atmosphere of communist corruption and without safety. The officials are getting richer and the poor even poorer," he said.
An organiser and sponsor of the event, Nick Wang of Asia New Zealand newspaper said, "Mr Wei Jingsheng has made some very clear points about the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the persecution of Falun Gong.
The Chinese people should have a think about it, they may have money -- but they're sad, they have no social freedom of belief. It is absolutely impossible that human rights can ever be bought with money - there's just no exchange."
After being in China's prison system Wei believes the Chinese Communist Party is very much capable of harvesting organs from live prisoners of conscience and that it was hard for people to understand the persecution of Falun Gong because there has been no media coverage in China.
Since China's Cultural Revolution 40 years ago, Wei has dedicated his life to advocating freedom from the communist regime. The Fifth Modernisation, Wei's innovative and well-publicised essay written in 1978, stated that, without democracy, China could not truly modernise.
This essay, along with other pro-democracy activities denouncing the Chinese communist regime landed him in prison for 18 years, with almost 5 years in solitary confinement.
Articles initially written on toilet paper in jail have been compiled to create Wei's other famous book, Courage to Stand Alone – letters from Prison and other Writings.
Wei Jingsheng was awarded both the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award in 1996.
He was released from prison in November 1997 following a request from then US president Bill Clinton and has resided in Washington DC since, not silenced by his forced exile.
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