Word: guangcheng
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Then came the text message: "Chen Guangcheng has been sentenced to four years and three months' imprisonment." I first met Chen a year ago. A native of China's eastern Shandong province, the self-schooled legal activist came to Shanghai to publicize the plight of women who had been forced to undergo abortions or sterilizations as part of the nation's family-planning campaign. China has tried for more than two decades to lower its population through its "one-child" policy, but the coercive measures used in Shandong's Linyi region are now illegal. By publicizing abuses committed by local...
...Then, came the text message: "Chen Guangcheng has been sentenced to four years and three months' imprisonment." Chen is a legal activist whom I first met a year ago. A native of China's eastern Shandong province, he had come to Shanghai to publicize the plight of women who had been forced to undergo abortions or sterilizations as part of the nation's family-planning campaign. Although China has tried for more than two decades to lower its population through its "one-child policy," the coercive measures used in Shandong's Linyi region are now illegal. Chen's mission seemed...
...first learned of Chen Guangcheng was one of the first kind. Chen had beaten the odds. He'd grown up blind in a remote village in a country where people with disabilities aren't allowed to attend college. That meant three strikes against his ever amounting to much: China may be brimming with opportunity, but not for handicapped, uneducated peasants. The odds didn't deter Chen. He educated himself in the law by having relatives read to him, and then used his expertise to help others like him. He became a "barefoot lawyer," offering counsel to peasants with disabilities despite...
...some respects, the anguish among Chinese over dogs being culled may well be proxy for the poor, defenseless fellow citizens that the Chinese are not encouraged to sympathize with or given the opportunity to have feelings for. If Chinese papers were allowed, for example, to report on Chen Guangcheng, a blind peasant activist who's been repeatedly beaten and is now in jail for standing up for the victims of illegal forced abortions and who's due to go on trial on trumped-up charges of destroying public property this month, I'm sure his case would generate public outcry...
...whistle-blower is no hero, at least to the Chinese government. In March, Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist who was named to the TIME 100 this year for publicizing an illegal campaign of forced sterilizations and abortions, was removed from house arrest and taken away by police. Chen's whereabouts were unknown until June 11, when officials confirmed he was in jail. The odd charges against him include "gathering a crowd to disrupt traffic." His lawyer, Li Jingsong, who saw Chen last week, says his client is unbowed: "Spiritually, he's very strong...