Democracy Wall

The Wall of Democracy (abbreviation :西单 民主墙, traditional characters :西单 民主墙; Pinyin: Xidan Mínzhǔqiáng ) is a brick wall in the Xidan Street in Xicheng District in Beijing, which became a central point of the democracy movement in 1978.

Peking

As of December 1978, during the Beijing Spring gave democracy activists such as Xi'an Wenli information and ideas through wall newspapers ( Dazibao ) known. The first release was published by Huang Xiang, a poet from Guizhou Province. In the wall newspapers the Gang of Four (China) and failures of the government in connection with Deng Xiaoping were trying to gain power criticized.

On 5 December 1978, Wei Jingsheng, a signed poster hung on with the title The fifth modernization. As the first poster it called for more individual freedoms. With the assertion that freedom is the only modernization, which is more important than improved living conditions, it had a lasting effect on the democracy movement. The poster and its contents were a response to the four modernizations.

Before its closure, the Democracy Wall was moved to the Ritan Park. Visitors had to identify which free access have been cut. After the guide and the system of the Communist Party of China were openly criticized, the wall was closed in December 1979. At the same time the democracy movement was suppressed by arrests.

Nepal

After the establishment of democracy in 1990, a Wall of Democracy was established in Ratna Park in Kathmandu. The place became a public speech space for protesters. In August 2005, six months after King Gyanendra sacked the elected government and self- government violence taking over the Democracy Wall was torn down by the city council.