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 against the brother of blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng, the two said on Tuesday, throwing rocks, bottles and dead poultry at his house for 12 nights in a row

Dead poultry? Twelve nights in a row? Come fucking on.

We pause here to note that Reuters’s story is one-sided, quoting Chen Guangcheng relaying the words of his brother, Chen Guangfu. “Chen Guangfu, 56, said the attacks started on April 18,” Reuters reports, “the same day his brother had been put on a village Communist Party blacklist for his plans to visit Taiwan and, the party said, Tibet.”

Of course police didn’t answer calls, but even if they did, who would you believe? After authorities did this to Chen Guangcheng’s nephew, Kegui? And this to the spouse of another activist — a person, Liu Xia, who has never been committed for a crime?

The Telegraph also got in touch with Chen Guangfu, who says posters labeling the family as “traitors” have proliferated in their village, Dongshigu in Shandong province.

But most of Mr Chen’s family remained in their village and, as this anniversary of his departure approaches, relatives claim they have become the target of a growing campaign of intimidation and harassment Chen Guangfu, the lawyer’s 56-year-old brother, said he believed the campaign was a form of retaliation for the activist’s continued outspokenness as well as plans to visit Taiwan in June.

He claimed the campaign of intimidation was intended “to pressure Guangcheng”, who reportedly remains heavily involved in human rights campaigning in China despite now living in the US.

Sigh. You break bread with hoodlums, and you’ll look like one yourself. China: call off these slavering mutts.

China dissident’s brother says home attacked nightly with dead poultry, bottles (Reuters)
Chen Guangcheng’s relatives facing growing abuse (The Telegraph)

David Gray / REUTERS

Here’s Tania Branigan of the Guardian:

The brother of the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has fled his family’s captors in a second audacious escape from their village in eastern China.

Chen Guangfu arrived in Beijing early on Thursday morning after breaking out of Dongshigu, where relatives have been living under tight guard since his brother, who is blind, fled to the US embassy in Beijing last month, according to lawyers in the capital.

Maybe the people at Dongshigu should, you know, not be trying to keep people under house arrest. That’s the correct conclusion to reach after all this, right?

Guardian article continues:

“I met Chen Guangfu this morning. His health situation is OK,” said Ding Xikui, a lawyer authorised by Chen Kegui’s wife to represent her husband.

“His family are not allowed to leave the village. Chen escaped secretly. He came here to tell us what happened that night [when people broke in] and seeks help from the lawyer. He also supports the request from Chen Kegui’s wife to engage us as his lawyer in this case.”

Updates tk.

UPDATE, 5/27: He’s now missing, or possibly back at Dongshigu. According to Reuters:

The brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng who was reported to have gone missing has returned to his village in northeastern China, a lawyer said on Saturday.

The short disappearance of Chen Guangfu had sparked concerns he was the latest target of government reprisals against the family of the activist, who escaped from his village in late April after 19 months of detention at home.

Shandong-based lawyer Liu Weiguo told Reuters Chen Guangfu had returned to Dongshigu village. Liu earlier said the activist was “very worried” about his brother’s disappearance and was contacting friends to look for him.