Every time I Bi*ch About Life in the USA Remember Chen G.
Dongshigu Village, China (CNN) -- As our taxicab navigated the winding narrow dirt paths tucked between farm fields, the scenery outside looked typical of rural China.
Melting snow dripped from tiled roofs of gray brick houses; red scrolls with calligraphy celebrating the just-past lunar New Year adorned wooden doors left ajar; and children's laughter occasionally broke the quiet on a lazy winter's afternoon.
All the peace and tranquility came to a screeching halt when a burly man stopped our car at an impromptu checkpoint leading to Dongshigu Village.
"What are you here for?" he demanded.
"To see someone in the village," our driver volunteered an answer for us.
"Not allowed and leave now!" he ordered, his hand pounding on the windshield.
Getting out of the car along with correspondent Stan Grant, I asked the man who he was and why the village was off-limits.
Ignoring our questions and noticing cameraman Brad Olson filming, the man -- appearing in his early 50s and wearing a black satin coat printed with auspicious Chinese patterns -- reached for his walkie-talkie and signaled another plainclothes guard nearby to stop Brad.
As he requested backup, I demanded to know the reason we were barred from the village while Stan explained on camera what was happening. The "big guy" kept shoving Stan away from the checkpoint, as his partner knocked Brad's camera over.
When we tried to walk toward the village again, the two guards picked up rocks -- large and small -- from the ground and hurled them at us and the car, as they yelled "get out" and "no filming." Some of the rocks fell dangerously close to us.
The guards would not say why we were not allowed in, but the place we wanted to visit would have been just another faceless Chinese village in the eastern province of Shandong -- too small to be found on Google Maps -- if not for one local resident.
Chen Guangcheng, a prominent rights activist, has been confined to his home in Dongshigu Village since he was released from prison last September. In a home video posted on YouTube by U.S.-based rights group China Aid, the blind and self-taught lawyer described dire conditions of living under close watch 24 hours a day.
"Those people stand at the four corners of my house, spy on my family and monitor what we do," Chen, sporting sunglasses and a black jacket, said in the video. "They installed floodlights and surveillance cameras around my house."
Chen, 39, also said that vehicles surround his home, and his land and mobile phone lines have been cut off. He added that authorities threaten anyone in the community who attempts to help him -- or anyone who attempts to visit him.
Activists said Chen and his wife were beaten after the video was made public and that he was denied medical treatment.
CNN could not independently verify the claims. Meanwhile local authorities have not responded to our repeated requests for comment.
Chen first gained attention in 1998 when he led farmers in his county to protest against a river-polluting paper mill and persuaded international donors to fund a deep well for drinking water as an alternative to the contaminated river water.
He later brought class-action lawsuits on behalf of what he called victims of abusive practices in the enforcement of China's family-planning laws, which limit most couples to one child. China denied Chen's claims.
After his years of activism, a local court sentenced Chen to four years and three months in prison in August 2006 for "willfully damaging property" and disrupting traffic in a protest, charges his supporters called preposterous.
Though he's now home, it appears he's not free. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has championed Chen's case. Last month, she called for his release.
As our efforts to see him show, gaining access to Chen is all but impossible. As our taxicab escaped the flying rocks, our nervous driver was convinced we would be chased and caught by other guards.
When our car finally got back on the main road, we drove past the main path to Dongshigu Village and spotted about half-a-dozen men guarding the entrance. When they saw our cameras, some of them bent over to pick up rocks.
*******************UPDATE********************************
Beijing (CNN) -- I first interviewed blind activist Chen Guangcheng for CNN in 2004. We drove five hours from Beijing to visit him in Dongshigu, a rural hamlet in Shandong province.
During our visit, he counseled a blind farmer who was being hounded by local officials to pay taxes he claimed he did not owe.
"Next time before you pay taxes, remember to ask for a receipt," Chen advised. "You should collect evidence, otherwise it's hard to investigate and prosecute."
The 39-year-old Chen is self-taught and is one of a small group of activists pushing the margins of political dissent in China. He told me he learned the legal ropes from listening to the radio and television and from books and newspapers read to him by his wife and father.
Blinded by a fever at age two, Chen has been jailed, tortured and is still being persecuted and held under house arrest for helping villagers fight for their legal rights.
In recent weeks, many Chinese micro-bloggers have been tweeting and calling for Chen's release. With the tweets, they post an iconic photo of him wearing dark glasses and some have even posted photos of themselves wearing dark sunglasses.
Chen has advocated non-violent means to resolve conflicts, which has garnered him widespread support in China and abroad -- including a recent Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
"He's against rioting," New York University professor Jerome Cohen noted. "He wants all their efforts to be channeled into legal institutions."
But the muckraking blind lawyer has made government officials uneasy.
Several months after my interview, Chen documented cases of allegedly forced abortions and sterilizations connected to China's one-child policy in his village. He helped victims to file a class action suit against local officials, prompting their anger and vengeance.
Soon after, he was locked up in prison for four years on charges of "disturbing public order." During that time, he was awarded the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award, given to emerging leaders in Asia.
Chen was released in September last year, but remains under house arrest. He, his wife Yuan Weijing and 6-year-old daughter Chen Kesi have been confined to their home and barred from receiving visitors.
Local officials have set up roadblocks to fend off activists, foreign diplomats and reporters who
attempt to visit Chen. When our CNN crew tried to interview him in February, they were roughed up.
Chen's plight has prompted an outpouring of support among micro-bloggers in China -- some even soliciting donations and raising more than US$4,500 over the past four months.
It is not surprising that Chinese authorities are spooked by Chen given calls earlier this year in the blogosphere for a "Jasmine Revolution," and mass protests patterned after the revolution in the Middle East and Africa.
So far, such protests have had little traction here and President Hu Jintao has made it his mission to build a more harmonious society.
But China's economic rise has come at a cost and with the economy sagging, sections of the population are showing signs of restiveness.
Demonstrations are often fueled by local issues like corruption, land disputes, forced relocation, a growing gap between the rich and the poor, and environmental concerns.
In late October, more than 1,000 people took to the streets for two days and damaged several vehicles in the town of Zhili in Zhejiang province, protesting against tax increases. `
Several people were injured when the demonstrators -- mostly small business owners and factory workers -- clashed with the police. The protests subsided only after the authorities agreed to rescind the tax increase and the police kept its heavy security presence.
China-based market research firm Horizon cited various reasons why people feel their living standards have deteriorated, including rising prices, stagnant income, and a decline in confidence in the government's ability to create jobs and fight corruption.
More than 70% of the respondents blame poverty on the unjust social structure rather than lack of hard work.
"Negative public sentiments are constantly on the rise," says Horizon chairman Victor Yuan. "People tend to rush to often negative conclusions and magnify the government's inability to deal with emergency situation."
One of Beijing's worst nightmares is the outbreak of a peasant rebellion. Observers say harsh repression is turning obscure critics into rallying figures.
In the past two months, streams of Chen Guangcheng sympathizers have journeyed to his village in support.
"Before we reached the village, we were intercepted by about 100 people," Liu Li tells CNN. "I was surrounded by a dozen of them. They beat me up until I passed out."
Liu, 49, last week joined scores of people who responded to calls from micro-bloggers to support the blind lawyer. "Chen is just like any of us," said Liu. "He should be freed."
*******************UPDATE********************************
Is Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng Dead or Alive?
Contact: Reggie Littlejohn, Women's Rights Without Frontiers, 310-592-5722
LINYI COUNTY, Shandong Province, China, Oct. 7, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Ominous reports regarding blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng have emerged this week. According to Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities detained a group of at least nine human rights activists trying to visit Chen Guangcheng. On Wednesday, many members of the group were cut off from communication. According to a report by Canyu, Shandong authorities shot at these activists. Most disturbing is a report by Voice of America, stating that villagers had said, "Chen is dead already." VOA is attempting to verify Chen's status."We are alarmed at the report that villagers are saying that Chen is already dead," stated Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women's Rights Without Frontiers. "If Chen is dead, then the Chinese Communist Party is fully responsible for killing him through torture, denial of medical treatment and slow starvation. If Chen is alive, we urgently demand that he and his family be released immediately and unconditionally, for medical evaluation and treatment." "We are concerned about the report that authorities have shot at the activists trying to visit Chen," stated Bob Fu, President of the China Aid Association. "These netizens display the same brave spirit that Chen has, and they should continue in their courageous attempts to see him." Regarding Gao Zhisheng, another human rights lawyer who has disappeared, Fu said, "Gao and Chen are shining lights for human rights in China. Their shocking torture and Gao's disappearance demonstrate the CCP's willingness to trample on the rule of law."Self-taught lawyer Chen exposed the systematic use of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in implementing China's One Child Policy. Time Magazine named him in its list of "2006's Top 100 People Who Shape Our World," in the category of "Heroes and Pioneers." He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Melting snow dripped from tiled roofs of gray brick houses; red scrolls with calligraphy celebrating the just-past lunar New Year adorned wooden doors left ajar; and children's laughter occasionally broke the quiet on a lazy winter's afternoon.
All the peace and tranquility came to a screeching halt when a burly man stopped our car at an impromptu checkpoint leading to Dongshigu Village.
"What are you here for?" he demanded.
"To see someone in the village," our driver volunteered an answer for us.
"Not allowed and leave now!" he ordered, his hand pounding on the windshield.
Getting out of the car along with correspondent Stan Grant, I asked the man who he was and why the village was off-limits.
Ignoring our questions and noticing cameraman Brad Olson filming, the man -- appearing in his early 50s and wearing a black satin coat printed with auspicious Chinese patterns -- reached for his walkie-talkie and signaled another plainclothes guard nearby to stop Brad.
As he requested backup, I demanded to know the reason we were barred from the village while Stan explained on camera what was happening. The "big guy" kept shoving Stan away from the checkpoint, as his partner knocked Brad's camera over.
When we tried to walk toward the village again, the two guards picked up rocks -- large and small -- from the ground and hurled them at us and the car, as they yelled "get out" and "no filming." Some of the rocks fell dangerously close to us.
The guards would not say why we were not allowed in, but the place we wanted to visit would have been just another faceless Chinese village in the eastern province of Shandong -- too small to be found on Google Maps -- if not for one local resident.
Chen Guangcheng, a prominent rights activist, has been confined to his home in Dongshigu Village since he was released from prison last September. In a home video posted on YouTube by U.S.-based rights group China Aid, the blind and self-taught lawyer described dire conditions of living under close watch 24 hours a day.
"Those people stand at the four corners of my house, spy on my family and monitor what we do," Chen, sporting sunglasses and a black jacket, said in the video. "They installed floodlights and surveillance cameras around my house."
Chen, 39, also said that vehicles surround his home, and his land and mobile phone lines have been cut off. He added that authorities threaten anyone in the community who attempts to help him -- or anyone who attempts to visit him.
Activists said Chen and his wife were beaten after the video was made public and that he was denied medical treatment.
CNN could not independently verify the claims. Meanwhile local authorities have not responded to our repeated requests for comment.
Chen first gained attention in 1998 when he led farmers in his county to protest against a river-polluting paper mill and persuaded international donors to fund a deep well for drinking water as an alternative to the contaminated river water.
He later brought class-action lawsuits on behalf of what he called victims of abusive practices in the enforcement of China's family-planning laws, which limit most couples to one child. China denied Chen's claims.
After his years of activism, a local court sentenced Chen to four years and three months in prison in August 2006 for "willfully damaging property" and disrupting traffic in a protest, charges his supporters called preposterous.
Though he's now home, it appears he's not free. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has championed Chen's case. Last month, she called for his release.
As our efforts to see him show, gaining access to Chen is all but impossible. As our taxicab escaped the flying rocks, our nervous driver was convinced we would be chased and caught by other guards.
When our car finally got back on the main road, we drove past the main path to Dongshigu Village and spotted about half-a-dozen men guarding the entrance. When they saw our cameras, some of them bent over to pick up rocks.
*******************UPDATE********************************
Beijing (CNN) -- I first interviewed blind activist Chen Guangcheng for CNN in 2004. We drove five hours from Beijing to visit him in Dongshigu, a rural hamlet in Shandong province.
During our visit, he counseled a blind farmer who was being hounded by local officials to pay taxes he claimed he did not owe.
"Next time before you pay taxes, remember to ask for a receipt," Chen advised. "You should collect evidence, otherwise it's hard to investigate and prosecute."
The 39-year-old Chen is self-taught and is one of a small group of activists pushing the margins of political dissent in China. He told me he learned the legal ropes from listening to the radio and television and from books and newspapers read to him by his wife and father.
Blinded by a fever at age two, Chen has been jailed, tortured and is still being persecuted and held under house arrest for helping villagers fight for their legal rights.
In recent weeks, many Chinese micro-bloggers have been tweeting and calling for Chen's release. With the tweets, they post an iconic photo of him wearing dark glasses and some have even posted photos of themselves wearing dark sunglasses.
Chen has advocated non-violent means to resolve conflicts, which has garnered him widespread support in China and abroad -- including a recent Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
"He's against rioting," New York University professor Jerome Cohen noted. "He wants all their efforts to be channeled into legal institutions."
But the muckraking blind lawyer has made government officials uneasy.
Several months after my interview, Chen documented cases of allegedly forced abortions and sterilizations connected to China's one-child policy in his village. He helped victims to file a class action suit against local officials, prompting their anger and vengeance.
Soon after, he was locked up in prison for four years on charges of "disturbing public order." During that time, he was awarded the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award, given to emerging leaders in Asia.
Chen was released in September last year, but remains under house arrest. He, his wife Yuan Weijing and 6-year-old daughter Chen Kesi have been confined to their home and barred from receiving visitors.
Local officials have set up roadblocks to fend off activists, foreign diplomats and reporters who
attempt to visit Chen. When our CNN crew tried to interview him in February, they were roughed up.
Chen's plight has prompted an outpouring of support among micro-bloggers in China -- some even soliciting donations and raising more than US$4,500 over the past four months.
It is not surprising that Chinese authorities are spooked by Chen given calls earlier this year in the blogosphere for a "Jasmine Revolution," and mass protests patterned after the revolution in the Middle East and Africa.
So far, such protests have had little traction here and President Hu Jintao has made it his mission to build a more harmonious society.
But China's economic rise has come at a cost and with the economy sagging, sections of the population are showing signs of restiveness.
Demonstrations are often fueled by local issues like corruption, land disputes, forced relocation, a growing gap between the rich and the poor, and environmental concerns.
In late October, more than 1,000 people took to the streets for two days and damaged several vehicles in the town of Zhili in Zhejiang province, protesting against tax increases. `
Several people were injured when the demonstrators -- mostly small business owners and factory workers -- clashed with the police. The protests subsided only after the authorities agreed to rescind the tax increase and the police kept its heavy security presence.
China-based market research firm Horizon cited various reasons why people feel their living standards have deteriorated, including rising prices, stagnant income, and a decline in confidence in the government's ability to create jobs and fight corruption.
More than 70% of the respondents blame poverty on the unjust social structure rather than lack of hard work.
"Negative public sentiments are constantly on the rise," says Horizon chairman Victor Yuan. "People tend to rush to often negative conclusions and magnify the government's inability to deal with emergency situation."
One of Beijing's worst nightmares is the outbreak of a peasant rebellion. Observers say harsh repression is turning obscure critics into rallying figures.
In the past two months, streams of Chen Guangcheng sympathizers have journeyed to his village in support.
"Before we reached the village, we were intercepted by about 100 people," Liu Li tells CNN. "I was surrounded by a dozen of them. They beat me up until I passed out."
Liu, 49, last week joined scores of people who responded to calls from micro-bloggers to support the blind lawyer. "Chen is just like any of us," said Liu. "He should be freed."
*******************UPDATE********************************
Is Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng Dead or Alive?
Contact: Reggie Littlejohn, Women's Rights Without Frontiers, 310-592-5722
LINYI COUNTY, Shandong Province, China, Oct. 7, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Ominous reports regarding blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng have emerged this week. According to Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities detained a group of at least nine human rights activists trying to visit Chen Guangcheng. On Wednesday, many members of the group were cut off from communication. According to a report by Canyu, Shandong authorities shot at these activists. Most disturbing is a report by Voice of America, stating that villagers had said, "Chen is dead already." VOA is attempting to verify Chen's status."We are alarmed at the report that villagers are saying that Chen is already dead," stated Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women's Rights Without Frontiers. "If Chen is dead, then the Chinese Communist Party is fully responsible for killing him through torture, denial of medical treatment and slow starvation. If Chen is alive, we urgently demand that he and his family be released immediately and unconditionally, for medical evaluation and treatment." "We are concerned about the report that authorities have shot at the activists trying to visit Chen," stated Bob Fu, President of the China Aid Association. "These netizens display the same brave spirit that Chen has, and they should continue in their courageous attempts to see him." Regarding Gao Zhisheng, another human rights lawyer who has disappeared, Fu said, "Gao and Chen are shining lights for human rights in China. Their shocking torture and Gao's disappearance demonstrate the CCP's willingness to trample on the rule of law."Self-taught lawyer Chen exposed the systematic use of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in implementing China's One Child Policy. Time Magazine named him in its list of "2006's Top 100 People Who Shape Our World," in the category of "Heroes and Pioneers." He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
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