{{Short description|Chinese legal scholar}} {{family name hatnote|[[He (surname)|贺 (He)]]|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox person | name = He Weifang | image = File:He Weifang.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|07|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = }} {{Weiquan_Lawyers}}{{Contemporary Chinese political thought}} '''He Weifang''' (born July 17, 1960; {{zh|s=贺卫方|p=Hè Wèifāng}}) is a Chinese legal scholar and a former [[professor]] at [[Peking University]]. He has advocated for the reform of China's judicial system, and has argued that the [[Chinese Communist Party]] is unregistered and therefore an illegal organization in China.<ref name="ChakravarttyZhao2008">{{cite book|author1=Paula Chakravartty|author2=Yuezhi Zhao|title=Global Communications: Toward a Transcultural Political Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIdzm1imHb0C&pg=PA47|accessdate=15 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-4044-6|pages=47–}}</ref>
== Education == He earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] at [[Southwest University of Political Science & Law]], and an [[Master of Laws|LL.M]] at Peking College of Political Science and Law (former [[China University of Political Science and Law]]).
== Academic career == He was an associate professor in [[China University of Political Science and Law]] from 1985 to 1995, then become a professor and [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] adviser at [[Peking University]].
Since 1992, he has been advocating for the reform of China's judicial system. He has authored many papers on the importance of modernizing China's judicial system, earning him the nickname "Justice He". His works include ''The Judicial Ideals and Institutions'' and ''The Ways to Carry Justice''.
Because of his public support and signing for [[Liu Xiaobo]]'s [[Charter 08]], his position at Peking University became untenable and he was forced to resign.<ref name="BéjaFu2012">{{cite book|author1=Jean Béja|author2=Hualing Fu|author3=Eva Pils|title=Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 and the Challenges of Political Reform in China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbZdx_mPdL8C&pg=PA107|accessdate=15 March 2013|date=31 August 2012|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-988-8139-06-4|page=107}}</ref> In 2008, he accepted a job offer to be the dean of the law school of [[Zhejiang University]]. However, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] forced the school to withdraw the job offer, and he was instead given a position in the remote city of [[Shihezi]] in [[Xinjiang]].<ref name=McGregor26>McGregor, [https://archive.org/details/partysecretworld00rich/page/26 <!-- quote="a lowly-ranked institution". --> p. 26.]</ref> Richard McGregor, author of ''The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers'', said that this was "a deliberately humiliating transfer, akin to a [[Harvard Law School]] professor being reassigned to a small [[community college]] in rural [[Texas]]."<ref name=McGregor26/>
On October 6, 2010, He Weifang gave a speech at [[Stockholm University]], concerning reform of Chinese Court Organization Law and freedom of speech.<ref>[http://www.orient.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.38461.1320327008!/ChinasJudicialReforms.pdf Professor He Weifang, 贺卫方 (In Chinese)]</ref>
He retired in July 2023 after a near 40-year academic career.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-22 |title=Vocal law professor He Weifang bids farewell to nearly 40-year career |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3228551/outspoken-law-scholar-he-weifang-closes-door-colourful-career |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref>
==References== * McGregor, Richard. ''The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers''. [[Harper Perennial]]: New York, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-06-170876-3}}. Originally published in 2010 by [[Allen Lane (imprint)|Allen Lane]], a [[Penguin Books]] imprint.
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|China|Biography|Law}} {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060303183518/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/15/content_3782181.htm Judicial independence should come first] [[China Daily]]/[[Beijing Review]], November 15, 2005 *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5230707/Leading-Chinese-dissident-claims-freedom-of-speech-worse-than-before-Olympics.html Leading Chinese dissident claims freedom of speech worse than before Olympics] *[http://blog.sina.com.cn/heweifang He Weifang's blog] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130703003550/http://marcopoloproject.org/online/authors/He%20Weifang%20-%20%E8%B4%BA%E5%8D%AB%E6%96%B9/ a series of articles by He Weifang in Chinese, English and French]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:He, Weifang}} [[Category:Chinese activists]] [[Category:Chinese legal scholars]] [[Category:Academic staff of Peking University]] [[Category:Academic staff of Zhejiang University]] [[Category:Signatories of Charter 08]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Yantai]] [[Category:Chinese anti-communists]] [[Category:Educators from Shandong]] [[Category:Academic staff of China University of Political Science and Law]] [[Category:1960 births]]