{"id":78,"date":"2023-05-03T14:05:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T18:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/?p=78"},"modified":"2023-07-05T21:15:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T01:15:28","slug":"with-the-chen-case-u-s-credibility-is-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"With the Chen case, U.S. credibility is on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bob Fu is founder and president of the\u00a0China Aid Association<\/a>, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization campaigning for Chen Guangcheng\u2019s freedom.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The blind lawyer\u00a0Chen Guangcheng<\/a>\u00a0climbed over the back wall of his home April 22 \u2014 and\u00a0escaped<\/a>\u00a0nearly six years of torture, malnutrition and isolation. During his detention, Chen became a global star, his dark glasses emblematic of the embattled movement of human rights defenders in China. Chen is my hero and friend. He is under the protection of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. His status and safety present a pivotal test for freedom in China and for U.S. credibility as a defender of freedom.<\/p>\n

Chen\u2019s escape was planned carefully for many months. The actor\u00a0Christian Bale<\/a>\u00a0was the most prominent person who tried to visit Chen during his years of house detention, but hundreds of Chinese citizens sought a similar audience and were forcibly turned away by police. Chen\u2019s most passionate supporters were the Chinese netizen community. One netizen, He \u201cPearl\u201d Peirong, provided logistic support for Chen\u2019s escape, picking him up in Shandong province \u2014 where Chen and I both hail from \u2014 and taking him to Beijing.<\/p>\n

I am awed by the courage of those who helped Chen escape. Pearl told me she is willing to die with Chen because he is such a \u201cpure-hearted courageous person.\u201d I was talking to her last week when she said \u201cguo bao lai le,\u201d that state security had arrived. Now, she is under arrest at an undisclosed location, and her blog has been erased.<\/p>\n

Chen is often described as a \u201cdissident,\u201d but that is a misnomer. Despite years of brutal treatment for\u00a0seeking to bring attention to those victimized by China\u2019s \u201cone-child\u201d policy<\/a>, he has never established a political party or organization. He has never advocated overthrowing the Communist Party. In the video he posted online after his escape, he says that the injustices his family experienced \u201churt the image of our Party.\u201d And the first thing he told me after escaping was that he wanted the outside the world to know that he was not going to leave China but to \u201cfight to the end for the freedom of my family.\u00a0.\u2009.\u2009.\u00a0I want to live a normal life as a Chinese citizen with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

Chen\u2019s escape prompted a predictable brutal response. After police in Shandong realized \u2014 four days after Chen got away \u2014 that he was gone, they took Chen\u2019s older brother and his nephew, Chen Guangfu and Chen Kegui, into custody. Media reports indicate that Chen\u2019s mother, wife and 6-year-old daughter are tightly guarded by Chinese security forces.<\/p>\n

This is a pivotal moment for U.S. human rights diplomacy. The United States must stand firmly with this broadly popular individual or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law. There is a reason Chinese dissidents revere this country. President Obama promised in his\u00a0inauguration address<\/a>: \u201cto those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.\u201d<\/p>\n

This blind lawyer, whose first name, \u201cGuang Cheng,\u201d means \u201clight\u201d and \u201cintegrity,\u201d has been silenced for almost six years because the Chinese government views his assistance to the vulnerable as a threat. Chen\u2019s desire for justice and freedom should put him firmly on the \u201cright side\u201d of history.<\/p>\n

By extending the United States\u2019s hand to Chen, the Obama administration can help the dictators of Beijing unclench their fist. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken out for Chen in the past and advocated his release. Her\u00a0visit to Beijing this week<\/a>\u00a0is a chance to connect words and deeds. I hope that Clinton will press China to guarantee the safety of Chen and his family.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s future will be built by those who act with Chen\u2019s integrity and seek the light of justice, equality and freedom for all Chinese citizens. China will move toward the \u201cright side of history\u201d only when it recognizes that people like Chen are its strength, not its enemy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Fu is founder and president of the\u00a0China Aid Association, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization campaigning for Chen Guangcheng\u2019s freedom. The blind lawyer\u00a0Chen Guangcheng\u00a0climbed over the back wall of his home April 22 \u2014 and\u00a0escaped\u00a0nearly six years of torture, malnutrition and isolation. During his detention, Chen became a global star, his dark glasses emblematic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4","category-report-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chenguangcheng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}