Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (3)
Full Focus
Editor's Choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. See more
Images of April
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Playboy model steals the show at Mexican election debate
07 May 2012
Boy, 11, Pees on $36,000 Worth of MacBooks
01 May 2012
John Travolta sued for sexual battery by masseur
07 May 2012
California seller of suicide kits sentenced for tax offense
07 May 2012
Anti-austerity ballot backlash rattles euro zone
07 May 2012
Discussed
153
One in seven thinks end of world is coming: poll
75
April hiring seen picking up
62
Berkshire profits double as insurance losses fall
Watched
Hungry zoo lion faces off with unfazed toddler
Thu, May 3 2012
U.S. foils airline 'bomb plot'
Mon, May 7 2012
"The Avengers" breaks a record, Lohan off the hook
Sun, May 6 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Real-life superheroes
Walking amongst us are the superheroes, whether they're for voting, promoting or protesting. Slideshow
Zombies! Run!
The "Run for Your Lives" race has runners facing obstacles while being chased by zombies. Slideshow
China dissident Chen says officials must face justice
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
China dissident Chen expects Beijing to allow U.S. trip
Mon, May 7 2012
China dissident's escape "more exciting than Shawshank Redemption"
Mon, May 7 2012
China says dissident may apply to study in U.S.
Sat, May 5 2012
Clinton leaves China as dissident Chen awaits departure
Sat, May 5 2012
WRAPUP 8-Clinton applauds China allowing dissident to apply to study in US
Fri, May 4 2012
Analysis & Opinion
China joins Europe as weak link in Asian trade
Washington Extra – Obama’s China cloud
Related Topics
World »
A handout photo from the U.S. Embassy Beijing Press office shows blind activist Chen Guangcheng (C) speaking into a phone in Beijing, May 2, 2012. Picture taken May 2, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/US Embassy Beijing Press Office/Handout
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING |
Tue May 8, 2012 12:00am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng has demanded the central Chinese government punish officials he blames for false imprisonment and years of persecution, saying on Tuesday that relatives remain under threat despite the international uproar over him.
Chen, who wants to travel to the United States after saying he does not feel secure in China, said he remains committed to continuing the "rights defence" cause that brought him years of jail and house arrest and now international fame as a symbol of resistance to China's shackles on dissent.
"I think that at least (continuing) rights defence would be very natural," Chen said of his future in a telephone interview with Reuters from his hospital room in Beijing.
"Like when someone hits you, don't you flinch? I think that defending our rights is also a basic natural response," he added.
Chen's extensive comments on his plans and his demands swung between combativeness and frustration, underscoring the uncertainties that shadow him and his family, despite the United States turning his case into a top-level issue with China.
Chen plans to study in the United States under a deal struck between Beijing and Washington. President Barack Obama's administration had feared a standoff over Chen's fate could sour ties with China and kindle criticism of Obama's policies.
But even once abroad, Chen said he will keep demanding that Beijing investigate officials in eastern Shandong province whom he accused of engineering his jailing on false charges and 19 months of extra-judicial house arrest and abuse.
"I think that no matter what I will continue demanding that the central government carries out a thorough investigation of Shandong," said Chen, recounting demands that he said he had made to a central official who visited him in hospital.
"I raised very specific demands about a series of steps - that Shandong has to be thoroughly investigated, that no matter who the official, no matter how high the official, no matter how many people are implicated, they must all be dealt with strictly according to the law," said Chen.
Chen said the central government official, whom he did not name, had promised to take up his accusations.
"He said that as long as the facts are there, it will be dealt with according to the national law and will be investigated and dealt with openly," Chen said of the official he spoke to on Monday. "That's the promise, but for now it's just a promise. There hasn't been any concrete action yet."
HOPES AND FRUSTRATIONS
Chen, 40, took shelter in the U.S. embassy in Beijing for six days after escaping from his home village in Shandong. He is now receiving medical treatment for an intestinal problem, a broken foot and other ailments accumulated during 19 months under house arrest and his audacious escape.
After leaving the embassy on Wednesday under a deal that foresaw him staying in China, Chen changed his mind and said he wanted to spend time in the United States to recuperate from the years of imprisonment and harassment that made him one of his country's most recognized representatives of the "rights defence" movement campaigning for expanded civic freedoms.
China's Foreign Ministry has said Chen can apply to study abroad. But it remains unclear how soon Beijing could let him travel to the United States, where New York University has offered him a fellowship.
Chen said family members in Shandong remained under official pressure or custody, and he had been stopped from meeting friends and U.S. diplomats despite official promises to protect him and his family and to respect his freedoms.
Chen quoted the Chinese government official who had visited him as saying now was "too sensitive" for him to meet friends.
"I don't know the reason, but anyway the embassy official told me that he wasn't allowed in," Chen said, recalling what he said was a conversation with a U.S. diplomat on Monday.
On Monday, a spokesman for the State Department, Mark Toner, said American diplomats had been in regular phone contact with Chen over the past couple of days.
"I know we have not seen him in person," Toner told a briefing in Washington D.C. "I don't know if we've made any attempt to see him in person."
Chen said he believed a nephew in Shandong, Chen Kegui, was in police detention facing reprisals in the wake of Chen's escape. Chen said his older brother, Chen Guangfu, was out of detention but had "received heavy threats".
Chen, a self-taught legal activist, came to national fame for campaigning for farmers and disabled citizens, and exposing a campaign of forced abortions in Linyi, Shandong, where officials were under pressure to meet family planning goals.
In 2006, Chen was sentenced to more than four years in jail on charges - vehemently denied by his wife and lawyers - that he whipped up a crowd that disrupted traffic and damaged property.
He was formally released in 2010 but remained under stifling house arrest. Officials had turned his home into a fortress of walls, security cameras and guards in plain clothes.
The village of Dongshigu, Linyi, where Chen's mother and other relatives remain, was under lockdown on Friday. Reuters journalists who tried to visit were turned away by guards.
Chen said the officials he had asked the central government to investigate included Liu Jie, head of the public security bureau in Linyi, and Li Qun, the former Communist Party boss of Linyi who now runs the port city of Qingdao, also in Shandong.
"My lawyer has a lot of evidence from back then, so I hope he'll be able to take part in the central government's investigation," Chen said of his accusations of unjust jailing and abuse by Shandong officials.
"You can't let them escape from legal punishment because it was led by a party secretary and done by officials," he said.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Mark Bendeich)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (3)
stevchipmunk wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.