Chen Guangcheng, who is in Taipei right now as part of an 18-day trip to meet with politicans and human rights activists, spoke to media on Monday, but notably refused to follow-up on his claim that New York University kicked him out due to pressure from Beijing.
According to Reuters, Chen "bristled" when asked.
The Chen Guangcheng saga sags deeper into a marsh of disappointment and sadness every day. The latest news, reported by Reuters, is that spyware was found on his phone and tablet, given to him by his "supporters."
But wait. The source of the story is NYU professor Jerome Cohen, who, if you haven't been getting the drift recently, hates certain of Chen's "supporters" -- people like Bob Fu, who runs the evangelist Christian group ChinaAid. Reuters:
Regarding Chen Guangcheng's exit from NYU, we acknowledge that there's a chance he and his camp know something the rest of us don't. Yet if there is evidence of coercion from Beijing, neither Chen nor anyone else has been able to present any. "Chen did not respond to repeated requests for evidence of his claims," reports SCMP. In the same article, NYU professor Jerome Cohen gave perhaps the most withering sound bite yet about this situation:
Last May, lawyer-activist Chen Guangcheng was a media darling and international hero. His dramatic escape from the village of Dongshigu, where he was held under house arrest, made headlines around the wrold. After the US granted him asylum, one magazine recognized him as "rebel of the year." He was later honored with the Lantos Human Rights Prize.
But as time went on, something changed. Or rather, Chen failed to. With each video, each interview, we heard more of the same, the same not-so-subtle name-drops, the same message, with phrases such as "the red terror envelops the nation."
Authorities still don’t get it. It’s over. Chen Guangcheng is gone. He’s in the hands of overseas activists now, and hasn’t said a thing that was new or interesting since winning the Lantos Human Rights Prize in late January. In other words, stop doing THIS SHIT: Security personnel in eastern China are carrying out a nightly harassment campaign... Read more »
On Tuesday night, Chen Guangcheng received the Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize in Washington DC and delivered a 22-minute speech that was greeted with a standing ovation. Speaking at the National Cathedral, he called himself “lucky” to have received “care and kindness from people around the world” despite the persecution he faced at home; he talked... Read more »
Chen Guangcheng, in a measured, carefully scripted nine-and-a-half minute speech that was just released on YouTube, name-drops two dozen activists and dissidents while calling on world leaders to focus more attention on China's human rights. "Dear Mr. Xi Jinping, the whole nation is watching you," he says. "Whether you will follow the call of heaven and people to carry out reform, or kidnap the government and maintain the power of the Communist Party, is a matter of whether China will have the transition in a peaceful way or a violent way."
Chen Kegui, nephew of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, was sentenced to 39 months in jail for his role in fighting back hired thugs and local officials who had broken into his home on April 27. The man slashed three officials — out of a group of about 20 of the most spineless, chicken-livered, piss-poor excuses... Read more »
A little more than six months ago, Chen Guangcheng was lost. Maybe not literally — though there’s a chance that’s true as well, a blind lawyer-activist fleeing through the woods of Linyi in Shandong province, then chased via car — but his whereabouts, for a week, was utterly unknown except to a circle of close... Read more »
Remember how, during the saga of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, authorities resorted to the basest means to intimidate and punish him? You’ll surely remember Chen Kegui, Guangcheng’s nephew, who was arrested for attacking goons with a knife — goons disguised as police (or is it the other way around?) who were sent to his house... Read more »
