A demonstrator in Beijing is treated in customary fashion,
outside the
hospital where
blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng is recuperating, May 4.
Have Beijing
Leaders Absorbed ChenGuangcheng’s
Message? (Le Monde, France)
“We must hope
that Chinese leaders have seized on at least one of the messages that a young,
blind lawyer is sending them: the future of China is the rule of law, not a reign
of thugs.”
A protester at a rally in front of the Chinese central government's liaison office in Hong Kong holds a poster dipicting Chinese human rights defender, Chen Guangcheng, May 4.
Beginning on April 26, one of the great Chinese dissident figures,
lawyer Chen Guangcheng,
was under the protection of American diplomats in Beijing. He left the U.S. Embassy
on Wednesday, May 2, to be hospitalized and be with his family.
Outwardly, the Americans and Chinese have come together in
Beijing on the eve of an important deadline. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and her colleague from the Treasury, Timothy Geithner,
were in attendance Thursday and Friday, May 3 - 4, for annual
Sino-U.S. talks. These focus on the economic and strategic dialogue between
China and the United States.
The only question people want answered is: what were the
terms of the agreement between Beijing and Washington concerning the fate of
Mr. Chen? This is a man to admire. At age 40, blind since early childhood, he
studied law and became a lawyer. He defended the cause of parents fighting the
one-child policy. The charges that were fabricated against him earned him four
years in prison - where he was tortured.
His release in 2010 did not bring his ordeal to an end.
Under house arrest at the family farm in the east, he has suffered beatings and
harassment by the group if thugs charged with his surveillance. His wife and
daughter have not been spared. He always said he wouldn’t leave China. But he
intends to condemn those who, in the pay of local authorities, never cease the
harassment of him and his family. This is the motivation for his “escape.”
This is a delicate moment for Chinese leaders. The top of
the Communist Party hierarchy is in the midst of a full-on internal struggle.
It has just expelled one of its own, Bo Xilai, one of the most prominent Communist Party leaders.
Chen’s case has destabilized the leadership only months ahead of the 18th
Communist Party Congress.
The “hard-line” camp, which takes a firm stance regarding
the United States, may offer a gesture of compromise to settle the “Chen
affair.” The other side of the Party, in their turn, has demands about Chinese policy.
They are in a position to make changes on some key issues - North Korea, Iran,
Syria, etc. - in which Beijing’s diplomatic influence could tip the scales.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
American-Chinese relations are in a difficult phase. The American
electoral campaign obliges the United States to denounce Chinese mercantilism, which
has become one of the key themes for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
Economic interdependence does not prevent strategic suspicion,
which is increasingly on display in the Western Pacific, where Americans and
Chinese are often a step away from clashing.
For the sake of the values the Democratic president defends,
we must hope that Barack Obama has obtained the strongest possible assurances
from Chinese authorities concerning Mr. Chen’s situation.
We must also hope that Chinese leaders have seized on at
least one of the messages that a young, blind lawyer is sending them: the
future of China is the rule of law, not a reign of thugs.
