Wu'erkaixi

Of Uyghur heritage, he was born in Beijing on 17 February 1968, with ancestral roots in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang.

He achieved prominence while studying at Beijing Normal University as a hunger striker who rebuked Chinese Premier Li Peng on national television.

He was one of the main leaders of the pro-reform Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation and helped lead abortive negotiations with officials.

Wu'erkaixi eventually settled in Taiwan, where he works as a political commentator.

Örkesh Dölet (ئۆركەش دۆلەت, 吾尔开希·多莱特; commonly known by his pinyin name Wu'erkaixi) is a political commentator known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989.

Wu'erkaixi arrived on the scene in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in mid-April 1989, the very beginning of the student movement, after having founded an independent student's association at Beijing Normal University.

He quickly emerged as one of the most outspoken student leaders as the size of the crowds increased.

According to Eddie Cheng, at a hastily convened meeting to form the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation and elect its leader, Zhou Yongjun of the University of Political Science and Law narrowly defeated Wu'erkaixi to be its first president.

After organizing the most successful demonstration of the 1989 movement on 27 April, he was then elected as the president of the Autonomous Union.

Upon meeting Premier Li Peng for the first time in May 1989, in an encounter recorded on national television, Wu'erkaixi interrupted Li during his introduction, saying "I understand it is quite rude of me to interrupt you, Premier, but there are people sitting out there in the square, being hungry, as we sit here and exchange pleasantries. We are only here to discuss concrete matters, sir."

After being interrupted by Li, who said that he was being somewhat impolite, Wu'erkaixi continued.

"Sir, you said you are here late [because of traffic congestion]... we've actually been calling you to talk to us since 22 April. It's not that you are late, it's that you're here too late. But that's fine. It's good that you are able to come here at all ..."

Wu’erkaixi claimed that he was present at the square when the soldiers arrived after martial law was declared and that he had personally seen around 200 student protesters cut down by gunfire in Tiananmen square.

However, according to the Columbia Journalism Review, all verified eyewitness accounts had attested that the students who remained in the square when troops arrived to clear them, had all been allowed to leave the square peacefully.

It was later "proven" that Wu’erkaixi himself had already left the square several hours before the massacre inside the square that he claimed allegedly occurred.

After the protests, Wu'erkaixi was No 2 on China's list of most wanted student leaders.

He fled to France through Hong Kong under the aegis of Operation Yellowbird, and then studied at Harvard University in the United States.

After one year of study there, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and continued his studies at Dominican University.

Afterward he emigrated to Taiwan, where he has married a native Taiwanese woman and started a family.

Wu'erkaixi has expressed a strong desire to return to mainland China to see his parents, whom he has not seen since 1989 after fleeing mainland China under Operation Yellowbird.

He has been unable to enter the mainland, and his parents have been unable to obtain passports to see him overseas.

He was a talk show host for a local radio station from 1998 to 2001.

In his book, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is transforming China and Changing the Balance of Power, David Aikman claims Wu'erkaixi converted to Christianity in 2002, but this has never been substantiated and Wu'erkaixi himself has made no public statements about the issue of faith.

He also appears frequently on television programs as a political commentator.

His standpoint has been defending the growing democracy in the island, and promoting civil society.

He has often criticized the Democratic Progressive Party, leading some to consider him to be a Pan-Blue supporter.

However, he is now identified as a supporter of Pan-Green politics, and has made statements strongly criticizing the KMT as well.

On 3 June 2009, he arrived in Macau in transit to mainland China intending to surrender and clear his name in court.

The Macao authorities refused to arrest him and had him deported to Taiwan.

On 4 June 2010, he was arrested by Japanese authorities in Tokyo, when he tried to force his way into the Chinese embassy in order to turn himself in.

He was released two days later without charge.

He ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Legislative Yuan twice, in 2014 and 2016.

In a June 2014 interview with the New York Times, he stated that while he was 'not a nationalist', if asked to 'choose today', he would 'join the majority of Taiwanese people here for independence.

The reason Taiwanese people say we aren't sure, we want to maintain the status quo, is that the status quo is that the mainland's missiles aren't dropping on our heads.

That is the status quo they want to maintain.

It's not that they like the idea that Beijing claims Taiwan as part of them.

It's not so much that they like that China prevents Taiwan from entering any international arena.

It's not that they want to reserve a chance to one day go back to China.

It's not that.

It's just that we don't want war.'