News
Penny Pritzker Says She Has ‘Absolutely No Idea’ How Trump Talks Will Conclude
News
Harvard Researchers Find Executive Function Tests May Be Culturally Biased
News
Researchers Release Report on People Enslaved by Harvard-Affiliated Vassall Family
News
Zusy Seeks First Full Term for Cambridge City Council
News
NYT Journalist Maggie Haberman Weighs In on Trump’s White House, Democratic Strategy at Harvard Talk
In May, he was busy in Tienanmen Square, taking the lead role in a series of pro-democracy demonstrations that rocked China to its core.
But the month of August saw Wuer Kaixi absorbed in a remarkably different activity: taking Harvard's placement exam in the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement.
Currently one of the Chinese government's most wanted fugitives for his role in last spring's demonstrations, Wuer Kaixi will be taking classes along with Harvard students this fall as a visiting undergraduate.
However, acquaintences of the 20-year-old dissident say that study will not be the only thing on his mind. Since fleeing China last June in the wake of the government crackdown on protesters, Wuer Kaixi has pledged to carry on the fight for democracy from abroad.
"He believes that his life is no longer his personal treasury," says Harvard graduate student Ding Xueliang, who met with Wuer Kaixi this summer in Paris, "It belongs to those who were killed, to those who are still fighting for democracy."
Admissions officials said they did not know whether the dissident leader planned to apply for admission as a regular undergraduate. They said he plans to take courses in English, mathematics, Chinese and the social sciences.
Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.