Chen Guangcheng, known for fighting his work against forced abortions under China’s one child policy, faced years of harassment by authorities before fleeing to the US Embassy in Beijing in April 2012, ahead of a visit by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After a month of tense negotiations, Chen was finally allowed to leave China and fly to the US, where he has lived ever since.
While expressing gratitude at the time, Chen emerged as a frequent and fierce critic of the Obama administration and Democratic politics in general – with critics accusing him of tarmac views and conspiracy theories. For his speech at the RNC,
he tweeted a video of a pro-Trump demonstrator rejecting a view of Black Lives Matter in New York, titled “Freedom.”
In his speech, delivered via video to the convention, Chen referred to “the policies of resignation of previous governments – including Obama and Biden,” which he said had allowed the CCP to infiltrate and infiltrate various aspects of the global community. corroding. ”
Chen praised Trump for leading the fight “to stop China’s aggression,” and called on Americans to “support, vote and fight for President Trump for the sake of the world.”
Tough on China
Relations with Beijing have been trumped by Trump, who has made tough words against China an important pillar of his reorganization campaign.
In a speech Tuesday, Trump’s secretary of state Mike Pompeo also slammed Beijing, praising Trump for withdrawing “the curtain on the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal aggression.”
According to the Pew Research Center, Americans in both parties “see China now much more negatively than in the recent past,” with 83% of Republicans surveyed saying they have an unfavorable view of the country. According to Pew, while Republicans have long been suspicious of Beijing, Democrats have also become suspicious in recent years – 68% of supporters surveyed said they saw China unfavorably – so there is a growing consensus on the issue.
Many Chinese dissidents living in the US are vocal supporters of Trump’s hard line on China. Chen is closely associated with Bob Fu, a conservative Christian pastor who has described himself as “God’s double agent.” Fu met with Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence and
praised Trump on social media.
Fu assisted in Chen’s departure from China and was later involved in obtaining positions at the Witherspoon Institute, a conservative think tank based in New Jersey, as well as the Catholic University in Washington.
However, not all Chinese dissidents feel the same way. Teng Biao, a human rights lawyer who once represented Chen,
tweeted Wednesday that “for Chinese human rights defenders, there is no logical consistency in supporting Trump.”
“I’m a good friend and (former) lawyer of Chen Guangcheng’s, but I’m totally against what he does.”
he said. “I will never support a person who told a dictator ‘to build’ the #ConcentrationCamps’ in #Xinjiang and who labeled #Tiananmen democracy movements and #Hongkong protests as’ riots’,” Teng said, referring to comments which were allegedly made by Trump.
‘Enemy of mankind’
In his remarks at the RNC, Chen said that “coming up against tyranny is not easy. I know it.”
“When I spoke out against China’s one-child ‘policies and other injustices, I was prosecuted, beaten and placed under house arrest by the government,” he said. “In April 2012, I escaped and took refuge in the US Embassy in Beijing. I am eternally grateful to the American people for welcoming me and my family to the United States where we are now free.”
Blind since childhood, Chen taught himself the law and became involved in human rights activism, in particular on issues of forced abortions and other abuses related to the “one child policy”. He was first imprisoned for four years in 2006, after which he was held under strict house arrest for years until his dramatic escape from 2012.
During that time, a CNN crew accompanied actor Christian Bale, then in China to promote a film, to visit Chen. Bale was attacked by a security guard and the team was prevented from entering the house where Chen was being held.
During his speech on Wednesday, Chen called the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “an enemy of man” that “threatens the well-being of the world,” and listed a variety of issues, including China’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims. in Xinjiang, a continuous attack in Hong Kong, and threats to Taiwan.
Echo Trump, Chen added that “the coronavirus pandemic, originally in China – and covered by the CCP – has caused massive death and social upheaval around the world.”
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