Szeto Wah, human rights activist, dead at 79
A leading human rights activist for mainland Chinese dissidents including the Tiananmen massacre victims died yesterday in Hong Kong.
His name was Szeto Wah, but he was better known as Uncle Wah
Originally a teacher, Szeto became a leader of one of Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ unions. He helped organize the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Democratic Movements in China, which he headed until his death. The Alliance served as a voice for human-rights abuses by the Chinese government. For two decades, Wah also served as a legislator in the Democratic Party.
Because of his continued condemnation of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, Szeto was barred from visiting the mainland. He died of cancer at the age of 1979.