On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Barack Obama on Sept. 25, the OPC is hosting a conversation with Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader in the Beijing protests of 1989. He was forced into exile and has never been able to return to mainland China. Wu’er Kaixi remains active in politics and is a candidate in Taiwan’s 2016 parliamentary elections. 

An ethnic Uighur, Wu’er Kaixi sees himself
 as one of the many victims of a
systematic war  the Chinese government
has long been carrying out against its own people that is intensifying under Xi
Jinping.

Wu’er Kaixi believes the US is sending the wrong
message to the world – and in particular to the Chinese government – by welcoming
Xi Jinping to its shores and lending legitimacy to large-scale  oppression.

Barbara Demick will lead the discussion with Wu’er Kaixi. Demick
is the former Beijing bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times, and author of two
books–Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and Logavina Street: Life
and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood.

To RSVP, call 212-626-9220 or send an email to RSVP@opcofamerica.org.

We will stream this event via Google Hangouts. Click on the window below to watch live from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 24, or to watch an archive of the recording after the event.