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hoytdwow

This whole blind Chinese activist story

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Have you retreads been following this? Guy made it into the US Embassy in Beijing, then cut some deal with the authorities where he would be allowed to go home safely. But now he says he wants to leave China and come to the US. All of this while Hillary Clinton and Geithner are in China for some big talks. :shocking: Awkward...

 

I focking hate China, but I can't really see how the US can give the guy asylum. The Chinese are making all kinds of their standard noises about how it's an outrage that the US is "meddling" in their affairs. I feel for the guy and his family and wish there was some way the US could stick it to China. But flying this poor bastard out seems like it would ignite a diplomatic shitstorm.

 

 

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Why is China mad at the blind lawyer guy in the first place? I've heard about this story but I can't decide if I care or not.

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Why is China mad at the blind lawyer guy in the first place? I've heard about this story but I can't decide if I care or not.

 

He was some sort of civil rights activist on the whole "one child per family" issue. I guess he organized some sort of uprising against the .gov that ended up getting him 4 years in a Chinese clink. After his release, he was placed on house arrest, where he claims him and his family were abused by the local authorities. Somehow he escaped and made his way to the US embassy. That's where I stopped reading.

 

:cheers:

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He'd escaped from house arrest but apparently he'd hurt his foot in the process. Then he turns up 300 miles away in the US Embassy. Many of the people that helped him escape got detained. At first he said that he didn't want to leave China. Then, somehow an agreement was reached between him, the US government, and the Chinese government to allow him to stay in China unmolested. So the US let him go to the hospital to allow a doctor to check/treat his foot. Now he's changed his mind and wants to leave the country. Meanwhile, the Chinese are guarding his hospital bed and keeping out visitors.

 

Seems like he's back at square one.

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He'd escaped from house arrest but apparently he'd hurt his foot in the process. Then he turns up 300 miles away in the US Embassy. Many of the people that helped him escape got detained. At first he said that he didn't want to leave China. Then, somehow an agreement was reached between him, the US government, and the Chinese government to allow him to stay in China unmolested. So the US let him go to the hospital to allow a doctor to check/treat his foot. Now he's changed his mind and wants to leave the country. Meanwhile, the Chinese are guarding his hospital bed and keeping out visitors.

 

Seems like he's back at square one.

 

Are people concerned about this in China? How big of a story is it there? I imagine the government is censoring the story or at least spinning it quite hard, right?

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Are people concerned about this in China? How big of a story is it there? I imagine the government is censoring the story or at least spinning it quite hard, right?

Curious too.

 

I just watched a congressional hearing on this and they talked with the guy over speaker phone. I take it a young female relative(?) and his nephew are missing and feared hurt because of his dissidence. He's actively worried about his immediate family's safety too.

 

The state department lawyer (not present) said there wasn't enough time to get agreements in writing, which is why no effective actions to ensure Chen Guangcheng's safety and well-being have been taken. Micheal Horowitz was reaming him over that and saying the press needs to look into it because that kind of cavalier attitude from someone in his position is inexcusable. You make the time. He was talking about how lawyers always make sure to get agreements in writing when it comes to just goods and services. It's standard if you actually care.

 

Dissident guy was thanking Hilary Clinton, saying he wants to meet face to face with her, and the foreign affairs-human rights subcommittee chairman was saying we don't deserve that thanks because we dropped the ball on this. His take was that Chen was used as a bargaining chip in trade talks, and that's pretty much it.

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Are people concerned about this in China? How big of a story is it there? I imagine the government is censoring the story or at least spinning it quite hard, right?

It's all covered up. My wife never heard of the story until I told her about it. At the school where I work, I haven't overheard any of the Chinese teachers are talking about it. Then again, I'm not really close to any of them, I mostly hang out with the foreign teacher posse anyways. The people that do talk about it are the human rights reformists but all discussions are being quashed.

 

IMO, the US State Department focked this up. They were in a rush to get a deal with the Chinese government ahead of Hillary's visit and didn't secure any enforcement mechanism to ensure that China would comply. Looks like they've left Chen out to dry. It's disgusting. In other words, I agree pretty much with naomi's sentiment.

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I heard an interview of this guy (translated) and he said the reason he wants to leave China is that the local police in his home town have rounded up his family and have threatened to beat him and his family to death.

 

Also, they heavily censor the internet in China, but its still hard to keep news of things like this from getting around.

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Glad things worked out for him in the end. It's surprising China showed him some compassion considering how he embarrassed them, you never see that. It must have been the international interest in his situation they didn't want to deal with.

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IMO, the US State Department focked this up. They were in a rush to get a deal with the Chinese government ahead of Hillary's visit and didn't secure any enforcement mechanism to ensure that China would comply. Looks like they've left Chen out to dry. It's disgusting. In other words, I agree pretty much with naomi's sentiment.

 

Looks like I owe the State Department an apology. With Chen and family safely in the US, the situation seems to be well resolved now. :thumbsup:

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Bush! :pointstosky:

 

OK. Fair enough.

 

While I'm at it, I suppose I should apologize to Bush and The Bushtards for not posting (much, a sentance or two) in the threads about Bush's plans to privatize Social Security back in the day. Actually, I agreed with Bush but since saying anything positive or supportive of him is totally distasteful and makes my brain hurt and stomach feel ill (even now) I could never find the energy or words to bother. So since i like seeing him get beat up, I took a pass. I probably shouldn't have. Ditto using federal authority to override California's tougher gas mileage laws, support for a permanent nuclear waste disposal site in Nevada, No Child Left Behind, or detaining terrorist sh*tstains in Gitmo. Since I hate him so intensely, I never had the energy to properly go to bat for him.

 

The only issue that I ever really felt passionate about supporting/defending The Bushtard was over the auto industry bailouts.

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