For 19 years, he was held captive in various labor camps in China.

Now, Chinese activist Harry Wu continues to speak about the conditions within labor camps in China and Tibet.

He will give a speech tonight at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Wu, who is known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, was arrested in 1960. He was then held captive for 19 years.

Since his release, Wu has continued to speak out against the treatment by the Chinese government toward the Chinese people, said Ryan Bergman, president of Iowa State’s Students for a Free Tibet.

“This will be the first time that people will be able to see first-hand the inside of labor camps.

“I think it will be a good thing for the students here to see. And it brings the message that we [Students for a Free Tibet] are trying to get across,” he said.

Wu is active in monitoring prison camps in China and Tibet and will show films during tonight’s speech on the conditions within the camps, Bergman said.

Bergman and Students for a Free Tibet were instrumental in bringing Wu to campus to speak.

Bergman contacted him personally after listening to him speak in Washington D.C. last year.

“He was really interesting,” he said. “He talked about how he had smuggled equipment and taken pictures within labor camps in China. I really liked it.”

Wu, who came to the United States in 1985 as a visiting professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley, is now a naturalized citizen.

He is executive director and founder of Laogai Research Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to documenting the Chinese Laogai (forced labor) system.

Pat Miller, Committee on Lectures program coordinator, said Students for a Free Tibet worked hard to bring Wu to ISU.

She said Wu’s presence on campus is exciting and a great opportunity for students to see a real “hero.”

“He really is a hero and the committee was happy to support him for all that he has done,” she said.

Not all ISU students support the contributions Wu has given society. Bergman said many posters placed around campus have “pretty disgusting” derogatory remarks written in obvious protest of Wu.

Bergman said some Chinese students do not agree with Wu’s ideas and remarks about their country.

“Right now there is a move for patriotism in China,” Bergman said. “… his ideas go against the whole purpose of patriotism,” he said.

Bergman said he thinks Wu deserves respect for his determination to expose and change labor camps in China.

“He risks his life every time he returns to China. I think he is a great guy that deserves a tremendous amount of respect from everyone.”