Why Is China So Afraid of One Blind Activist?

Protect Chen Guangcheng

Chinese human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, who is blind, escaped house arrest in Shandong province last week – but his future remains uncertain.

Chen, a self-taught lawyer who was imprisoned and then subjected to violence and house arrest for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in China, made a daring, Houdini-like escape to the U.S. embassy. Following delicate negotiations with the United States, Chinese officials pledged to allow Chen to live a “normal life” with his family, and he initially agreed to return home.

Does this sound normal to you?

“I don’t know what’s happened to my mother. There are guards inside the yard, in all the rooms, even on the roof. They’ve set up lots of cameras in my home and are preparing electric fences. They told my family they’d take wooden sticks and beat my family to death, so it’s very unsafe.”
-Chen Guangcheng, in an interview with NPR

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