Blind Chinese Human Rights Activist Chen Guangcheng Makes UK Visit

Blind Chinese Human Rights Activist Chen Guangcheng Makes UK Visit
Says attacks against his family are ongoing

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- During a visit to the UK, blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng said that attacks against his family are continuing

In an email to the ASSIST News Service, Jubilee Campaign Founder and International Director Danny Smith said, "We campaigned for Mr. Chen when he was imprisoned, and our supporters sent thousands of postcards to the Chinese authorities calling for his release. He hit the headlines last year in a daring escape from house arrest, and took refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing. Later he was allowed to leave China with his family to study in the US."

Jubilee Campaign said in an email that Guangcheng and his wife Yuan Weijing visited the UK as the guest of Lord Alton, a British politician who is a former Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament who has sat as a crossbench member since become a Peer in the House of Lords.

Jubilee Campaign said Guangcheng told media that attacks against his family have continued.

Jubilee Campaign said he received an award by a Parliamentary group for his human rights work, and was given a celebrity-type welcome when he spoke at the Oxford Union.

Time Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Chen Guangcheng with Jubilee Campaign's postcard that was used to campaign for him when he was imprisoned

Smith said in the email, "One of the highlights for me was to present Guangcheng with a copy of the postcard that we used in our campaign. It was a privilege to spend time with Guangcheng and his wife Weijing, and I've been inspired by our time together."

At BBC Broadcasting House: Bob Fu, Yuan Weijing, Chen Guangcheng and Danny Smith

Smith added, "It was also great to be reunited with Bob Fu after 16 years. Bob traveled with Chen Guangcheng and served as his interpreter. Bob was a student leader during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, and later became a prominent leader in the Underground Church. He escaped from China and was hiding in Hong Kong when we helped Bob and his family to get out just before the colony was handed back to China in 1997.

Fu is the founder of China Aid, an NGO that reports on human rights violations in China.

Jubilee Campaign is a nonprofit organization which promotes the human rights and religious liberty of ethnic and religious minorities.

For more information go to www.jubileecampaign.org