The recent escape of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng from house arrest has put U.S.-China relations in the spotlight this week– just before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are scheduled to meet with China’s leadership in Beijing.
Chen, a rural lawyer who has stood up to the Chinese government on numerous occasions in regard to the country’s one-child policy, made a daring escape from his village in Linyi Prefecture on April 22 and, through a network of human rights activists, is believed to have sought refugee at the U.S. Embassy. Sometime after his escape, he posted a video to YouTube explaining his demands to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao; you can see a translated excerpt below.
Philip Pan, former Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, talked about meeting with the dissident and reporting on his story back in 2005. Pan also discussed that shortly after his story broke, Chen was monitored, arrested and detained by Chinese authorities.
Philip Pan Tells the Story of China’s Blind Activist from Politics and Prose on FORA.tv
