Interviews with Chen Guangcheng

Because the United States, from the world’s perspective, is based on democracy, freedom, human rights, and rule of law and these are the foundations of the nation, I knew they respected human rights, therefore I hoped to receive assistance from the people of the United States.

At first, yes, at the beginning they immediately protected me, but later on I don’t know why they reached the conclusion that maintaining a good relationship with the Chinese communists was better than protecting me.

It’s very complicated, one of the conclusions was that the first condition was that I had to walk out of the [United States] Embassy on my own and I rejected that request. Later on I realized things were not as positive as I had imagined and I realized I had to leave China.

[Chen Guangcheng escaped from house arrest in April 2012 and fled to Beijing where he sought refuge at the United States Embassy. The United States initially accepted Chen on humanitarian grounds; however, things devolved into a diplomatic mess as the situation complicated American efforts to improve relations with China. In May 2012, Chen left the embassy after several weeks of negotiations during which the Chinese government provided assurances that it would release the dissident from house arrest and investigate the actions taken against Chen by Shandong province authorities. Soon after leaving the Embassy, Chen learned that his family had received numerous threats and feared the government would renege on its promises. It was then he made the decision to leave China with his family, and was soon after offered a visiting scholar position by New York University. Chen accepted and arrived in New York with his family on May 19, 2012.]

So later on, I then, how should I say this, through different avenues of assistance I was finally able to come to America. Living in America has some facets of life that I have gotten used to, though I have been in the States for almost a year and language [English] continues to be a hurdle. My greatest confusion is that China and the United States have written in official diplomatic transcripts that the Beijing Central Government should look into the persecutions committed against me and my family by the Shandong government [Chen’s home province in Eastern China].

The Beijing Government agreed to start an investigation on all the illegal and criminal activities, and agreed to do this in a transparent matter, but now this seems to be ignored and forgotten. I also can’t accept that some people who know about this haven’t spoken out on this matter. It has been written in the official Chinese-U.S. diplomatic agreements so this should mean both sides should take this matter seriously, so I do not understand why this agreement seems to be ineffective.

Chen Guangcheng was born into a poor family on November 12, 1971 in China’s Shandong Province. As an infant, Chen suffered a fever that left him permanently blind. Chen developed a keen interest in legal practice. Teaching himself the law by studying legal texts and auditing various courses, Chen assisted people in his village with legal matters. In 2003, he married an English teacher and the couple had two children.

Chen’s activism began in 1996 when he petitioned the central government in Beijing over taxes that were improperly levied against his family. According to Chinese law, families with disabled persons receive tax exemptions that were not being granted to Chen. The campaign was successful and Chen began advocating for people with disabilities who had similar grievances with the government. Soon, he gained notoriety as a prominent activist for the disabled in China.

In 2005, Chen spent months investigating reports of forced abortions and sterilization being carried out by Chinese authorities to enforce the country’s one child policy, officially known as the Family Planning Policy. This law was enacted in 1978 and restricts most urban couples to a single child. When his investigation was complete, Chen filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the women he interviewed against the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China’s office in the city of Linyi. This was the first suit of its kind challenging the implementation of the one child policy. The case was rejected and the local government retaliated by placing Chen in de facto house arrest. In 2006, Chen was formally tried and charged with instigating destruction of public property and disturbing the peace , which Chen decried as baseless given his house arrest and constant surveillance by the police. He was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. After the proceedings, Amnesty International declared Chen a prisoner of conscience.

Chen was released from prison in 2010 only to once again be placed under house arrest by local authorities. His house was routinely monitored by security agents who prevented anyone from entering or exiting. Chen and his family were subject to constant harassment and abuse during this period.

Chen escaped from house arrest in April 2012 and fled to Beijing, where he sought refuge at the United States Embassy. In May 2012, Chen left the embassy after several weeks of negotiations, during which the Chinese government provided assurances that it would release the dissident from house arrest and investigate the actions taken against Chen by Shandong provincial authorities. Soon after leaving the embassy, Chen learned that his family had received numerous threats and feared the government would break its promises. He decided to leave China with his family and was offered a visiting scholar position by New York University. Chen accepted and arrived in New York with his family on May 19, 2012. He continues his work from the United States, advocating for human rights and democratic reform in China.