Current Event: The Blind Lawyer Chen Guancheng

Chen Guancheng, the blind dissident who escaped from house arrest and ended up in the US Embassy in Beijing, was finally landed in New York on May 20th. After seven years of abuse from Chinese officials, which included house arrest and jail time, it is not difficult to understand why he has decided to escape from scrutiny. During his escape, he broke his left leg and now he has to learn how to maneuver with just one leg. However, with the help of a lot of activists, Chen was miraculously able to escape to Beijing and was given refuge at the US Embassy.

Chen began his bumpy road as a civil rights activist in early 2000s, when he helped others with disabilities to avoid paying illegal fees and taxes. His effort was successful in the early stages as he was able to exempt some of the fees and taxes for the disabled. Chen first attracted publicity in 2005, when he exposed authorities in Eastern China for severely enforcing population control. In order to enforce the "One-child policy", local officials forced people to undergo sterilization and even abortion. This is clearly against basic human rights. In order to stop Chen, the Chinese officials arrested Chen and charged him of "destruction of property" and "assembling a crowd to disrupt traffic". During the trial, none of his lawyers were allowed in the courtroom and not even his wife were allowed to hear the trial. After his appeal was rejected, he served his jail time until 2010. After his release, Chen was placed on house arrest. He was closely monitored by officials in his home village. The Hollywood superstar Christian Bale attempted to visit Chen in his hometown last year, but was roughed up by the undercover policemen who guarded Chen's house.

                                                              From http://www.sxc.hu

Chen's escape from Chinese officials is nothing short of an action movie script. At first Chen did not want to leave China. All he wanted was to be freed from detention and able to finish his law education in China. However, this all changed when he felt his family's life were threatened. At the end, he decided to leave China. On the same day, New York University offered him a visiting scholar position and Chen headed to New York along with his family. Now, aside from fulfilling his job as a visiting scholar, Chen looks forward to meet Christian Bale. I am sure there will be lots media coverage when "the Blind dissident meets the Batman." For now, it seems Chen plans to stay in US for nine months. However, it may all change soon, as his brother also fled his village. Chen's brother has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and things could get ugly soon. Even though Chen's wife and his children are with him safely in US, his relatives remain in limbo in China.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It gives the rulers a license to be unconscious, neglect or even abuse their citizens. China has been ruled by the Chinese Communist regime since 1949. They are enjoying great economic success but yet they could not even tolerate a blind dissident to protest his basic human rights. As the Chinese now have deep pockets and desperately need resources, they are starting to move up on Canada's energy value chain. We will soon realize that it is not easy to deal with this "great propaganda machine".