Prominent Chinese dissidents Wei Jingsheng, Wang Dan, and Wang Juntao announced the opening of the second “Statehood Conference” in China on September 30th (October 1st, Beijing time). This conference will focus on discussing economic issues and will take three months to globally solicit papers on major topics. By the end of this year, they plan to draft a white paper on the construction of China’s economic system post the Chinese Communist Party and the transition of old and new systems.
During the announcement of the “Statehood Conference”, Wei Jingsheng, a well-known dissident living in the United States and the initiator of the conference, read the declaration titled “Establishing a Guaranteed Order of Freedom and Justice in the Economic System and its Development.” He mentioned that the first “Statehood Conference” was held in March 2024, where they released a manifesto based on experiences of democratic national construction worldwide, proposing the agenda of “Overthrow the CCP, Rebuild the Republic” for democratic national construction. Starting from the second conference, they will delve into specific discussions on various fields of democratic construction and will last about three months.
According to Wei Jingsheng, human transformation experiences suggest that an economic system transformation and policy that brings hope to the people can effectively mobilize them to actively participate in transformation, providing strong political and popular support. He emphasized, “Ending the CCP dictatorship and establishing a constitutional and democratic China is a significant event for the progress and development of the Chinese nation. It will also be a milestone event in human civilization history. We look forward to like-minded individuals around the world coming together to outline this grand plan!”
Renowned dissident Wang Dan, also residing in the United States, stated that the corrupt dictatorship of the CCP under Xi Jinping’s absurd rule is rapidly heading towards collapse. The Chinese people need to prepare strategies for the institutional construction of a new democratic political system and transitional period challenges. Hence, Wei Jingsheng, Wang Juntao, and himself decided to convene the “Statehood Conference” to discuss institutional construction in various fields and strategies for the transition period.
At this conference, they will focus on the economic system construction of a democratic China and strategies for the transition between old and new systems. They are earnestly inviting experts, scholars, and opinion leaders interested in the future of Chinese democracy and economic development to propose solutions through papers. These proposals will be shared with experts and scholars for feedback to facilitate discussions. Approximately three months later, suitable personnel will be selected to hold a two-to-three-day conference to synthesize opinions and form a white paper on the economic system and transition strategy for democratic China.
The collected research papers will cover economic systems, transition strategies, and lessons from experiences. For instance, in terms of the economic system, the “Statehood Conference” emphasizes that a good society must respect basic human rights, placing individual freedom and well-being at the core of institutional design. They advocate for a democratized economic system in China based on a free-market economy, where both goods and means of production have fair competition and market allocation through free exchange.
Looking towards the future, Wang Juntao, another prominent Chinese dissident in the United States, announced that around New Year’s Day in 2025, they plan to hold a press conference to solemnly present the economic system construction proposals and institutional transition plans for China after the rule of the Communist Party. Following the release of the white paper, they will establish an “International Guest Group for the Construction of a Democratic China’s Economic System and Transition Plan” based on discussions at the “Statehood Conference”. Additionally, they intend to create an online community for ongoing discussions on institutional construction and transitional issues post the CCP dictatorship.
Wang Juntao expressed, “Our generation of Chinese people stands at one of the most critical junctures in the history of human civilization. The success of the impending transformation of the Chinese nation will determine the fate of future generations and humanity. We eagerly anticipate all enlightened individuals joining us in opening the Statehood Conference based on this sense of historical mission.”