Blind Social Activist, Lawyers Beaten in China

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Blind Social Activist, Lawyers Beaten in China
10/4/2005 From: Newsblaze.com
By: Radio Free Asia
Submitted by Leon Gilbert

HONG KONG-A social activist who blew the whistle on official abuses under
China's one-child policy in the eastern province of Shandong was beaten by
local officials Tuesday, while lawyers attempting to mediate with local
government were set upon by unidentified thugs, residents and lawyers told
Radio Free Asia (RFA)

Chen Guangcheng, who is blind, was left bleeding from his injuries on the
main street of his native Dongshigu village following clashes between
villagers and local officials, a local resident told RFA's Mandarin service.

The clashes were sparked after the arrival of three out-of-town lawyers-Xu
Zhiyong, Li Subin, and Li Fangping, who were hoping to meet with Chen and
mediate between the activist, who is under effective house arrest-and local
authorities, an eyewitness said.

Chen was escorted from his home to where the lawyers had been prevented from
entering the village, by around 20 fellow villagers from Yinan County, near
Shandong's Linyi City, where around 60 people were waiting, including
government officials.

"Chen Guangcheng was bleeding from several cuts and injuries to his arms,
and also sustained an injury to his leg," a Dongshigu villager surnamed Chen
told RFA reporter Ding Xiao.

"One of his teeth was loose, too. The government officials refused to take
him to seek medical attention, but they sent a doctor to get his blood
pressure checked," said the villager, who saw Chen shortly after the attack.

According to Chen's Beijing-based lawyer Teng Biao, the three lawyers
managed to see Chen for only a few minutes before they were taken away for a
"chat" by local judicial officials. The lawyers tried mediate in the
conflict between Chen and family planning authorities, but with no result.

Teng spoke to RFA shortly after telephoning the three lawyers. "They got
back to the village at around 4:30 p.m. They were on the main street around
300 meters from Chen's house, when they were grabbed by a group of
unidentified men and beaten up."

"Li Fangping narrowly escaped being thrown in the river, and was pinned to
the ground while others set upon him. Some his attackers looked as if they
had just drunk a lot of alcohol. Xu Zhiyong was also pushed to the ground
and beaten," Teng said.

"At 5:28 p.m., they were all taken to the nearby township police station. At
the moment, they are still in Shuanghou Township police station. They said
things looked pretty dangerous because there are a lot of people in the
village who look like gangsters."

Chen is becoming widely known for exposing violence against women by Linyi
municipal authorities in pursuit of family planning targets under China�s
one-child policy, with his work against forced abortions and sterilizations
featured in the Washington Post in August.

His writings, which blew the whistle of the use of forced abortions and
other abuses in Linyi city and his home county of Yinan, were widely
distributed on the Internet and read by many in China.

In an interview with RFA earlier this year, a township-level family planning
official from Linyi admitted that "illegal actions" had taken place in
pursuit of draconian population targets.

"If people have more than the allotted number of children it affects the
overall family planning results. Here in Shandong, each level of government
has responsibility for overseeing the level below it...From the city level
upwards, you start getting fines for exceeding the target," the official said.

He said pressures on village officials exerted by the system of fines and
quotas had led to beatings in the past, but denied that violence was
sanctioned at every level of the family planning bureaucracy.

Chen fled harassment by Yinan officials last month, hiding at a friend's
house in Beijing, before being abducted for 38 hours by unidentified
officials and taken back to Yinan. He was threatened with spying charges for
his role in highlighting abuses in the region, but later released.

Original reporting in Mandarin by Ding Xiao. RFA Mandarin service director:
Jennifer Chou. Translated and written for the Web in English by Luisetta
Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts
news and information to listeners in those East Asian countries where full,
accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. RFA adheres to the
highest standards of journalism and strives for accuracy, balance, and
fairness in its editorial content. RFA is funded by an annual grant from the
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

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