Wei Jingsheng
It was during this second "Beijing Spring" that the China Democracy Party was founded and legally registered by some local authorities. The Democracy Wall Movement dissident Wei Jingsheng was released and exiled, China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and China was visited by US President Bill Clinton and UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson at this time. By the end of 1998 the government had again cracked down on leading dissidents and those involved in the fledgling opposition Chinese Democracy Party.