Who is Chen Guangcheng?

[Anonymous]

The idea that a person can appeal to the highest official possible in order to resolve a problem. This is a time-honored tradition in China and was done in ancient times, when people would appeal to the emperor for a redress of grivences. Many Chinese people believe and have always believed that the emperor himself, in this case the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, is good and benevolent, and really it is only the corrupt local officials who are causing the problems. By appealing to Wen Jiabao in a respectful way his YouTube video he has raised the profile of his appeal and has brought himself to the notice of the central authorities. All he is trying to do is get the Chinese Communist Party to respect the rule of law. Chen Guangcheng has made the issue of human rights apparent. Anyone who runs afoul of the authorities will denied their right to rule of law. By hiding at the U.S. consular offices he has made the issue more controversial. Here is a link to his YouTube video.

[Anonymous]

The article is outrageous, but the part that stuck out to me was the section below:
"A self-taught lawyer, Mr. Chen crossed the line from celebrated lawyer to persecuted dissident after he took on the case of thousands of local women who had been the victims of an aggressive family planning campaign that included forced sterilizations and abortions. In 2006, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years during a trial that his legal defenders described as farcical. The charges included destroying property and organizing a crowd to block traffic, crimes allegedly orchestrated while he was under house arrest" Overpopulation is a problem, but when do we stop and respect the rights of individual?
I read about the dramatic fertility decline and improved longevity over the past two decades in China that are causing China's population to age at one of the fastest rates ever recorded. This has also been accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of chronic disease and disability in the population. - http://www.prb.org
These two ideas seem to be at odds with one another...Is Mr. Chen simply the scapegoat for something else?

[Anonymous]

I am going to use the articles that are surfacing about Mr. Chen as a current example of human rights violations and reproduction rights. I briefly discuss how the Nazi government imposed force sterilizations on "inferior" populations within German controlled Europe. However, these articles will help reinforce the idea that some of the atrocities and human rights violations 65+ years after WWII, are still continuing. Often times, it is hard to get students to relate to topics when they believe it happened long ago and must have been solved by now. This is a good reality check, that voices are still being silenced and rights violated across the world.

[Anonymous]

It seems that whatever the resolution of this issue will be it will result in a diminished role for Chen Guangcheng. He will either be exiled from China or will be permanently living at the U.S. embassy, which of course is an untenable situation. Either way he must be silenced because he created too much of a stir. He will be a victim of his own success. As result of this case, I think I will have my Econ/Gov students compare case studies of human rights violations in China to those that happen in the U.S. What are the differences? What are the similarities? Were they resolved, if so how?

[Anonymous]

So it appears that Chen Guangcheng was "officially" at the US Embassy in Beijing for six days and now he has left, according to NBC News. His apparent motivation for leaving was to receive medical care in Beijing and to be reunited with his family.As you might expect, China is now demanding an apology from the United States. Chen is apparently not seeking asylum in the United States and will remain in China. Some agreement may have been worked out that will allow Chen to relocate to a "safer environment" and study at a university. In case you forgot, Chen was under house arrest for more than 20 months for exposing forced abortions and other abuses by Chinese officials. Chen left the US Embassy on his own free will and reported to his attorney that he has received assurances that he is free. The Chinese government's news service, Xinhua published this official statement by ministry spokesman Liu Weimin aimed at the US government: "It must be pointed out that the United States Embassy took the Chinese citizen Chen Guancheng into the embassy in an irregular manner, and China expresses its strong dissatisfaction over this incident...The U.S. method was interference in Chinese domestic affairs, and this is totally unacceptable to China. China demands that the United States apologize over this, thoroughly investigate this incident, punish those who are responsible, and give assurances that such incidents will not recur." Now that certainly sets the tone for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue that will begin between the two countries on Thursday. It remains to be seen how this incident will factor into the discussion.

[Anonymous]

In yet another turn of events, today Chen Guangcheng called the Congressional Executive Commission on China and revealed that he is concerned for the safety of his family and thanked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her support. Shortly after leaving the US Embassy, Chen said he wanted to remain in China, but now he wants to leave and hopes Hillary Clinton will help him in this regard. Chen's appeal has even found it's way into the presidential campaign. Republican challenger Mitt Romney criticized the Obama administration for basically kicking Chen out of the US Embassy in Beijing so that he would not disrupt economic discussions between China and the US. So now the Republicans are putting human rights in front of economic concerns? Anyway, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of this story. Will we allow Chen in, or will we let Chinese officials decide his fate? I'll put this question to my students tomorrow and see what they say.

[Anonymous]

Yesterday, I briefly spoke to my eleventh grade students about Chen Guangcheng and his activism in China. I reminded them of our "acts of civil disobedience" unit and discussed the ways in which Chen had committed a courageous act. We also discussed the differences in the media coverage: the US, as well as other countries, are able to publicize this story openly and of how the Chinese media are held to certain limitations. For our students there are many interesting facets to this story and it was nice to see them engaged in something that is happening across the world. As the story develops, I look forward to sharing the thoughts and questions that are posted in this site and are offered in class.

[Anonymous]

I can't help but wonder what the US hopes to gain from the recent publicizing of the Chen Guangcheng case. It's not like he just arrived on the scene. He's been an activist for more than 10 years. It seems like Chen is using US presence (Hillary Clinton and Timothy) in China to bring attention to his plight. But I wonder if US government officials are using Chen to bring attention to their plight. We clearly want to talk about human rights, North Korea, Tibet, and other issues but maybe we just need to put Chinese officials on the defensive so that they will want to appear more forthcoming on the things that really matter to us. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Mitt Romney's critical comments regarding the handling of the Guangcheng case are a complete joke. Guangcheng's escape was orchestrated perfectly, and now, he and his family are in the process of moving to the US. I don't know about you, but I was very impressed by how smoothly this whole thing has gone, all things considered.

[Anonymous]

One of the topics that has fascinated me in this ongoing drama is the question of what does this prevent us from talking about? I do believe that human rights of course are something very valuable to discuss with any nation, but those changes take time and are met with great antagonism it seems on both sides. In the meantime what discussions are we missing out on? I was thinking about the discussion about what is the next big issue in China from the Saturday session and reflecting on what would happen if China and the US sat down to discuss something like the environment? It is a major issue plaguing both countries. Neither side necessarily has it right yet and would hopefully be willing to admit it. Plus it has some major global ramifications. China is still developing a lot at a pace faster than the US right now, but some of their investments have been in the very green technological advancements we put on our own national agenda. It would be interesting to see if there is a subject other than money (because they've invested a lot here and our economy is still struggling) or human rights (because this topic brings up so much more antagonism) that the US and China could discuss as "equals".

[Anonymous]

It seems that Chen Guangcheng’s gamble paid off. The Beijing government has realized that his case has become an international issue and has decided to investigate the charges made by Chen either because they are feeling they must do so to keep up appearances or they are taking this opportunity to replace the local officials, which it uses to enforce its laws. The Beijing government has not publicized the meetings it has had with Chen. Chen and his family will be leaving China for the U.S. soon and with his departure ends the controversy that ensued as a result of his arrest and escape. For more information, check out this link.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57429735/blind-activist-chen-guangcheng-says-china-will-investigate-his-abuse/

[Anonymous]

I believe that abortion and human rights are important issues that must be discussed, but the process by which Chen gambled and gained his "freedom" nags at me bit. Is this setting a bad precedent? Again, the media is given so much power...this time in worked in Chen's favor, but I hesitate to think about some other yahoo that might use this same plan of attack to get out of doing something that is actually harmful.

Semantics...

“I wish to point out in particular that a fundamental way to manage state to state relations is…to respect each other’s sovereignty …and choice of social system,” said State Councilor Dai Bingguo, with Clinton and Geithner seated on the stage. “This is particularly important to the relationship between major countries…No one should expect the Chinese to leave their own path.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/from-chen-guangcheng-to-barkha-dutt-hillary-clintons-unusual-asia-trip/2012/05/08/gIQAoa76AU_story_1.html

[Anonymous]

I feel Chen Guangcheng is a hero. If what happened to him, happened to me and my family, you better believe I would use the most effective means available to stop the abuses. I believe human rights is the one issue that underlies all others. Clinton says, yes, we have to continue to press for them, but this cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the global security crisis. But my question is where do we think all these problems came from? It could be a direct consequence of a long, illustrious worldwide history of human rights abuses.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
As for me, Chen Guangcheng's picture fits nicely on my hero wall.

[Anonymous]

This inspired me to create a mini lesson for "Communists Take Power in China" in my World History class. As an opening activity students were asked to write down three words that they thought could be banned or viewed as potentially harmful to someone else or the U.S. government. When asked to share with the class some of the responses were, "bomb, nuclear warfare, drugs, etc." I then read them the list that was posted on here words such as "US embassy" and "blind man" the students were intrigued that such simple words could be banned. In their lists the words could definitely be associated with something harmful, but they were awed that the Chinese government would ban words that didn't seem harmful at all. This then lead to a discussion of censorship and how Mao Zedong changed China and was able to maintain control. What I found surprising was that my students had a difficult time thinking of words that could be potentially banned by the government. It goes to show that its hard for them to even imagine a life that is censored by the government.

[Anonymous]

So after all is said and done, Chen Guangcheng and his family will land in Newark Airport today. Reportedly, Chen was only allowed to fill out his passport application on Wednesday. This ends, or perhaps starts, an interesting chapter in U.S. China relations. I was reading a blog and some people were interested in who's paying for Chen's trip. Other's were concerned about his application-less entry into USC. Can I get such consideration when I decide to apply? The point is, Chen is, or will be, in the U.S. soon and he will be both revered and criticized. Welcome to America.

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