WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 - Pro-democracy activist Wang Ce, just deported from China a year before completing his four-year jail term, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) he plans to continue working toward China's political reform. Wang Ce, who left China in 1984 and lives in Spain, also told RFA's Mandarin service in an interview Sunday that he was treated well in prison, where he was allowed to work as a librarian. "I wish to do theoretical research on China's political reform, and I hope to contribute more in this regard," Wang told RFA's Wang Nian, speaking by telephone from his home in the Spanish capital, Madrid. He declined to elaborate on his plans. Wang, 52 and chairman of the joint dissident group United Democratic Front-China Liberal Democratic Party, was released early for "good behavior and obedience in jail," according to China's official Xinhua news agency, which described him as a "convicted spy." He had served more than three years of a four-year sentence for entering China illegally and financing anti-government activities. Wang had entered China on forged travel documents in October 1998. He then made a loan of $1,000 to Wang Youcai, a founding member of the China Democratic Party. The China Democratic Party was outlawed in 1998 and most of its leaders, including Wang Youcai, are now serving long prison terms. "When I went to China (in 1998), I made a statement expressing the hope that China's economic reform could be accompanied by related political reform. Today I hold the same belief as I did then," he said. "Through 20 years of reform, the economic transition towards liberalization and a free market have resulted in China's entry into the World Trade Organization. These are all efforts made by China in the economic arena. Politically, if democratic reform could be carried out with economic reform, that would be a good direction." Wang Ce was born in Wenzhou, in eastern Zhejiang Province, and went to study in the United States in 1985 before settling in Spain in 1992, Xinhua said. RFA's complete interview with Wang is available on the Web at: https://www.rfa.org/promotions/man/ruoshui.htm. Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting news and information to listeners in those Asian countries where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA aims to deliver such news reports- along with opinions and commentaries- and to provide a forum for a variety of voices and opinions. RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Uyghur. It adheres to the highest journalistic standards and aims to exemplify accuracy, balance, and fairness in its editorial content.
