UCAN REPORT:
Chen Guangcheng (left) and fellow activist Hu Jia
Blind dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng has left the US embassy after staying there for six days, according to a news brief from Xinhua News Agency around 3:30pm (7:30am GMT) today.
The agency said he had “left of his own volition” and gone to a Beijing hospital for a check-up. A BBC report said his wife was with him and said she and their children were well.
The foreign ministry in Beijing has demanded the US apologize for what it termed “interference.”
Yesterday a Hong Kong Church group urged the head of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) to speak up for Chen and his family, whose lives it said could be in danger.
The CCPA president is Bishop Johan Fang Xingyao, who is also the prelate of Linyi, the home town of Chen and his family.
Chen, who spoke out against the way the country’s one-child policy is enforced, such as forced abortions, escaped from detention on April 22 after having spent more than 18 months in custody.
As Bishop of Linyi and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — a top advisory body to the Chinese government — the Vatican-approved prelate “has the responsibility to voice support for his fellow townsman Chen, his family and those who are now in danger for helping him,” according to Or Yan-yan of the Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission.
“Chen helps victims file lawsuits against illegal enforcement of the one-child policy. This is in line with the Church’s teaching on life. We hope Bishop Fang will not stay silent in the face of government pressure,” Or said yesterday.
“The China Church should not just fight for its own religious freedom it has to help protect the rights of people in society,” she added, citing a recent communique from the Vatican’s Commission for the Church in China.
The April 26 communique said: “Both bishops and priests should make every effort to consolidate the lay faithful in their knowledge of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and in particular of ecclesiology and the social doctrine of the Church.”
Meanwhile, the JPC has issued a statement supporting Chen’s demand that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao look into his allegations of corruption and abuse of power by officials.
Related reports:
Officials arrest escaped activist’s nephew
Jailed dissident gets family visit
SOURCE: http://www.ucanews.com/2012/05/02/blind-activist-leaves-us-embassy/
The agency said he had “left of his own volition” and gone to a Beijing hospital for a check-up. A BBC report said his wife was with him and said she and their children were well.
The foreign ministry in Beijing has demanded the US apologize for what it termed “interference.”
Yesterday a Hong Kong Church group urged the head of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) to speak up for Chen and his family, whose lives it said could be in danger.
The CCPA president is Bishop Johan Fang Xingyao, who is also the prelate of Linyi, the home town of Chen and his family.
Chen, who spoke out against the way the country’s one-child policy is enforced, such as forced abortions, escaped from detention on April 22 after having spent more than 18 months in custody.
As Bishop of Linyi and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — a top advisory body to the Chinese government — the Vatican-approved prelate “has the responsibility to voice support for his fellow townsman Chen, his family and those who are now in danger for helping him,” according to Or Yan-yan of the Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission.
“Chen helps victims file lawsuits against illegal enforcement of the one-child policy. This is in line with the Church’s teaching on life. We hope Bishop Fang will not stay silent in the face of government pressure,” Or said yesterday.
“The China Church should not just fight for its own religious freedom it has to help protect the rights of people in society,” she added, citing a recent communique from the Vatican’s Commission for the Church in China.
The April 26 communique said: “Both bishops and priests should make every effort to consolidate the lay faithful in their knowledge of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and in particular of ecclesiology and the social doctrine of the Church.”
Meanwhile, the JPC has issued a statement supporting Chen’s demand that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao look into his allegations of corruption and abuse of power by officials.
Related reports:
Officials arrest escaped activist’s nephew
Jailed dissident gets family visit
SOURCE: http://www.ucanews.com/2012/05/02/blind-activist-leaves-us-embassy/
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