On December 5, 2004, the Wei Jingsheng Foundation awarded its first annual "Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy Champion Prize" to Mr. HU ShiGen and Mr. LIU XianBin. Last year in 2008, the prize was awarded to the representative of the 1978 Democracy Wall activists, Mr. LIU Jingsheng.

The Wei Jingsheng Foundation wishes this annual prize to serve as a continued and consistent encouragement to Chinese democracy advocates who have devoted themselves to and contributed to the progress of Chinese democracy. Thus, the prize is designated mainly for democracy advocators who are inside China.

The annual announcement is made on December 5, the date of publication of the well-known article "The 5th Modernization - Chinese Democracy", by Mr. Wei Jingsheng in 1978, a landmark date for the Chinese democracy process. As stated in our previous news releases, this prize was initiated with the encouragement and financial support of an anonymous donor who promised an essential $1,000.00 annually as the seed money for this prize. We encourage more donors to contribute as well. (Tax-exempt receipts will be provided for your federal tax deduction purposes, as well as your choice of a public acknowledgement or to remain anonymous.)

Since the announcement of this prize, the foundation has received many nominations, feedback and encouragement. Nominations are open all the time; we have not decided this year's awardee(s) as some rumors have stated. So we encourage the participation and recommendations from our colleagues and friends as before. As always, the awardee(s) will not be decided until after we close the nominations in mid-November.

If you have a person to nominate, please send the name, the credentials, other possible referrals, methods of communication and other details to us by midnight of November 14, 2009 (US Eastern Time). The best way to reach us is via e-mail. The contact e-mail address is: hcp0411wjs@aol.com or HCP@weijingsheng.org. Please send plain text (no attachments and/or picture imbedded e-mails) for a timely response.

We look forward to your nominations, as well as your input and suggestions. You may also contact us at Wei Jingsheng Foundation. Our mailing address is: P. O. Box 15449, Washington, DC 20003, USA. Our phone number is: 001-202-543-1538. 　 Thanks you.