China’s Chen Speaks by Phone to Congress Hearing
Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng spoke to a congressional hearing Thursday from his Beijing hospital bed — and requested a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The surprise call — Chen’s voice amplified from a cellphone held to a microphone — was the latest twist in a dramatic week in which his bid for U.S. protection has snared U.S.-China diplomacy and cast an international spotlight on his persecution by Chinese authorities.
Chen expressed fears for his family members, particularly his mother and brothers, and said that people in his home village were now suffering retribution for helping him, since he escaped from house arrest and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
The blind activist, who has spent the last seven years in prison or under abusive house detention, left the embassy for hospital Wednesday. He has since said that rather stay in China as originally agreed in negotiations between Chinese and U.S. officials, he wants to come with his family to the U.S.
Chen said that he wanted to come to the United States “for some time of rest.” He said he’s had none for 10 years.
“I’m really afraid for my other family members’ lives,” Chen told the hearing, convened to discuss his case and the Obama administration’s handling of it.
He said that since his escape, Chinese authorities have installed seven video cameras and even an electric fence at his house. “Now those security officers in my house basically have said, ‘We want to see what else Chen Guangcheng can do.’”