Arrests and detentions for Chen Guangcheng’s relatives and friends. Clinton in Beijing
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Relatives and friends who
are suspected of having aided the blind activist Chen Guangcheng to flee from
house arrest have been arrested or questioned by police. Meanwhile,
the flight of the activist, who has sought refuge in American embassy threatens
to polarize the summit meetings between the U.S.
and China,
due to begin tomorrow.
On
22 April last, Chen escaped from his house in Yi Lin (Shandong), where he was monitored 24/7 with
his wife and daughter. In
a video released on April 27, Chen confirmed his escape, accused the
authorities of Shandong of oppression and
abuse of his family and asked the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to protect his
family and start an investigation into the violence of the local leaders of Shandong.
The
authorities had forcibly isolated Chen because of his campaign against forced
abortions and sterilizations and the expropriation of villagers land. In
fact Chen had already served a sentence of four and a half years for these
reasons and was only released from prison in 2010. Since
then he had lived under house arrest in his home, often beaten by guards.
As
soon as the news of his escape spread worldwide, Shandong authorities arrested members of his
family.
Chen's
brother, Chen Guangfu, and his son, Chen Kegui were immediately arrested on
April 26. The
second was also injured in a fight with police and thugs, in which he used a
knife to defend himself.
Two
other relatives, his cousin Guangcun Chen, and his son Hua Chen were arrested
April 28. A
group of lawyers, among them Liu Weiguo and Liang Xiaojun, had offered to
defend Chen Kegui but were pressured not to take on this task.
Activist
He Peirong, a long time supporter of Chen, who apparently help the activist in
his flight to Beijing,
has disappeared in recent days. Another
activist, Guo Yushan was interrogated for days by the police, but has since
returned home.
The
dissident Hu Jia, who met Chen in Beijing
(see photo), was questioned and arrested by police for 24 hours.
The
police also threatened several Shandong and Jinan activists. According
to the CHRD (China Human Rights Defenders), yesterday, the activists Ni Wenhua
Liu Guohui, and were questioned by police and forced to stay indoors. The same was the case for Che Hongnian and
Zhang Jinfeng. Prof. Sun
Wenguang, who wanted to organize a meeting for May 1, was placed in custody.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived this morning in Beijing. The
visit had been scheduled for some time and was to focus on diplomatic and
economic agreements, but the presence of Chen Guangcheng at the American
embassy is likely to polarize relations.
Before
the Chen's flight, Washington had hoped to
show - with one eye on Obama's re-election campaign - some small progress in
the strategic and economic talks with China, scheduled for tomorrow. Beijing
had begun to meet U.S.
demands and ahead of tomorrow's summit had again revalued the Yuan. According
to the U.S.
the value of the yuan is kept artificially low to promote Chinese exports. Today
the Yuan was revalued by 0.19%, resulting in a revaluation of 23% in five
years. In
recent weeks, to meet other U.S.
demands, China has decreased
its imports of Iranian oil, has strongly criticized the launch of a missile of North Korea, supported the UN plan on Syria, after
having blocked any resolution against the Middle Eastern country for
so long.
Now,
the two economic powers will have to deal with the issue of human rights, for a
long time left on the sidelines of their dialogue.
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