Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Under Obama, U.S. Is No Beacon To Chinese Dissidents
IBD Editorials ^ | May 3, 2012

Posted on 05/03/2012 4:45:16 PM PDT by Kaslin

Leadership: The Obama administration's shoddy rebuff of a blind Chinese dissident seeking asylum underlines a sorry reality: The White House will sell out American interests for political advantage. Where is the courage?

Chen Guangcheng, 40, a blind Chinese human rights advocate of extraordinary courage, made a daring escape from an illegal house arrest last week and made his way to Beijing to stagger into the U.S. Embassy to seek asylum.

He was no ordinary applicant. The self-taught lawyer had been imprisoned for four years and continuously menaced by Chinese officials for the "crime" of standing up for the human dignity of rural China's people.

He exposed local abuses of China's "one child" policy such as forced abortion and sterilization.

Did the U.S. treat him with patience, respect and kindness, as our embassy staff did when seven Pentecostal dissidents fled into the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1978 to seek asylum, looking after them for five years?

Hardly. Chen was treated as an inconvenience by the embassy and tricked into returning to the clutches of his oppressors under phony pretenses: "His choices and our values," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

The Obama administration then hastily claimed to have resolved the inconvenience through a series of enticements. If Chen would remain in China, he could be resettled away from the local officials he'd exposed.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 05/03/2012 4:45:22 PM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Under Obama, the US isn’t a beacon to anybody, even the illegals are fleeing.


2 posted on 05/03/2012 4:48:52 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

In fairness to Obama, he doesn’t want another dissident; he has PLENTY already here complaining about his brand of socialism!

He knows when the blind guy “sees” the truth about Obama, he will be screaming for ALL to hear!


3 posted on 05/03/2012 4:50:47 PM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

true


4 posted on 05/03/2012 4:51:25 PM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I’m sorry for this Chinese man situation, but we can’t just take in everybody that has a problem with their country. I’m sure the 20 million Mexicans are also seek asylum too.


5 posted on 05/03/2012 4:53:41 PM PDT by timlot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: timlot

May 3, 2012
Chai Ling’s Written Statement for the Congressional Hearing at 2pm on May 3rd, 2012

May 3, 2012

(snip)

I have long admired Secretary Hilary Clinton as a female world leader. She inspired a whole generation—myself included—at the UN Women’s Conference in 1995 when she declared that “women’s rights are human rights.” She spoke those oft-quoted words in Beijing years ago, but what happened to Chen Guangcheng under her watch in Beijing yesterday was a betrayal of these very same rights she vowed to uphold.

This is because Chen Guangcheng is not just a “dissident.” . . He is a folk hero in China. . .

400 million babies have been forcibly aborted or killed after birth.
Because of the One-Child Policy and a cultural preference for males, one out of every six girls is aborted, killed, or abandoned.
There are now nearly 40 million “missing” women.
Sex trafficking and crime are skyrocketing in China in conjunction with the bachelor boom. Women are increasingly commoditized, with traffickers selling girls to families as child brides.


6 posted on 05/03/2012 5:02:28 PM PDT by CondorFlight (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: timlot

You obviously do not know the story about the blind Chinese dissident


7 posted on 05/03/2012 5:02:42 PM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: CondorFlight

(more from Chai Ling) :

In 2005, Chen investigated the methods of the One-Child Policy enforcers in his region, and he found that 7,000 women had undergone forced abortion is his area alone. He filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 130,000 women who suffered forced abortions and sterilizations. Retaliation came swiftly: the government imprisoned Chen for four years for “obstructing traffic,” and kept him under lockdown in his own home since his 2010 release. There, a pack of guards continually harassed Chen and his wife along with their six-year-old daughter.

(snip)

The blind lawyer scaled a wall, crossed a river, and evaded eight rings of vigilant guards to break free. He then traveled on foot through fields for twenty hours before meeting activist _____.


8 posted on 05/03/2012 5:03:45 PM PDT by CondorFlight (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: CondorFlight

(more from Chai Ling) :

But we let them down. Shamefully, US officials encouraged Chen to leave the Embassy and stay in China, in accordance with the Chinese government’s request. He left the Embassy yesterday morning under duress after being told that the Chinese authorities were going to take his wife and children back to Shandong and remove the possibility of reunification. The US denied that any coercion took place—but if this is not coercion, then what is?

(snip)

US Embassy staff assured Chen they would stay with him at the hospital to ensure his safety, but left him without protest after the Chinese told them “visiting hours” had ended. They also failed to get a written version of the agreement they reached with the Chinese negotiators, an elementary error that could have disastrous consequences.

(snip)

I do not believe that Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Locke were simply naïve . . . and I can only conclude that the current administration viewed Chen Guangcheng as a distraction that needed to be dealt with quickly—he was just a fly to be swatted away before diplomatic talks began. But this “fly” they swatted is a hero to everyone in China who values freedom and admires the United States’ commitment to humanity. With sadness, I can tell you that the network of activists that watched this week with baited breath is now demoralized and hopeless.

I will not mince my words: this was an unqualified disaster. It was a disaster for the Obama administration, for the America we love, and for those in China who pray for freedom. If there is any way to turn this around, we must. And I call upon you, Honorable Members of Congress, to try.


9 posted on 05/03/2012 5:05:09 PM PDT by CondorFlight (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The Rats have learned nothing from Elian Gonzalez......I still believe that made the difference between Bush winning and Gore winning in 2000.


10 posted on 05/03/2012 5:05:13 PM PDT by dfwgator (Don't wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of Romney.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: timlot

But there’s a big difference between a Mexican who tries to sneak in illegally and a dissident under the thumb of a Communist regime who manages to take refuge in the American embassy. IMO the latter has established his credentials for emigrating to America and our country would be much better off by welcoming him here. We need more people like him.


11 posted on 05/03/2012 5:19:04 PM PDT by Mmmike
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

Obama doesn’t want to irritate his Commie masters.


12 posted on 05/03/2012 5:24:43 PM PDT by AFreeBird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: FReepers; onyx; y'all
WE ARE FREE REPUBLIC!
We are the resistance!!


The Place for Conservatives
PLEASE DONATE, & DONATE MONTHLY, IF YOU POSSIBLY CAN!


13 posted on 05/03/2012 7:33:44 PM PDT by RedMDer (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=93)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: RedMDer

YES!


14 posted on 05/03/2012 7:37:24 PM PDT by onyx (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC, DONATE MONTHLY. If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, let me know.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: timlot

No 20 million Mexicans already have asylum here.


15 posted on 05/03/2012 9:10:28 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson