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A picture dated March 28, 2005 shows blind activist Chen Guangcheng (R) with his wife and son Chen Kerui outside the home in Dondshigu village, northeast China's Shandong Province. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
A Chinese group advocating for democracy has expressed the wish to nominate Chen Guangcheng for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to recent statements.
Chen is a blind human rights lawyer now under house arrest in Shandong Province. His story gained attention recently when Hollywood star Christian Bale attempted to visit him with a CNN film crew, which shot Bale being shooed away and attacked by Chinese guards.
The National Committee of the Democracy Party of China, a group based in New York that maintains ties to democracy activists in China, announced on Jan. 10 that they intend to organize a global effort to nominate Chen for the Nobel Peace Prize. The group wants to attract international to Chen’s case and eventually win his freedom.
“Under extremely difficult situations, Chen is pushing to improve human rights condition in China. We are not blind, yet we dare not stand up for our rights. Chen has suffered severe persecution. His actions are full of spirit,” said one of his champions, Li Hongkuan, who formerly ran Reference News (Da Cankao), a newsletter service about news banned in China that was later shut down, in an interview with New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television. Li is based in the U.S.
Chen Guangcheng lost his sight when he was young. He taught himself law and began advocating for the downtrodden and abused. In 2006 he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for exposing the violence employed by officials in Shandong’s Linxi City to enforce China’s one-child policy. After he was released from prison in 2010, Chen and his wife and daughter were put under strict house arrest.
“If Chen simply minded his own business, he would have led a comfortable life. But Chen chose to help those suffering because of the one-child policy,” Li said. “There are many such cases in Shandong Province. The world needs people like Chen Guangcheng”
Chen’s efforts struck a chord in China. Scores responded to his house arrest by initiating a “visit Chen” campaign. They were met with beatings.Read the original Chinese article.
