March 1998

Speaking to a small group in London this January, nearly two months after he was expelled from China, the Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng told his somewhat startled listeners, “The earliest human rights movement in the world was the ‘People’s Charter’ movement in England. Now I have come to the founding place of this ‘People’s Charter’….” Few people in Britain under fifty know their own history, so Wei’s mention of the events of 1837 and after rang only a faint bell with most of his listeners. It was typical of him to know about the charter.