Chen Guangcheng Timeline

Chen Guangcheng Timeline
Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng attends a press conference with Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, August 1, 2012. (AFP/GettyImages/Saul Loeb)
6/13/2013
Updated:
12/10/2013

June 16, 2013: Chen Guangcheng releases a statement saying he is being forced out of New York University due to pressure from the Chinese regime.

June 13, 2013: New York University asks Chen Guangcheng to leave within a month, New York Post reports on June 13.

June 4, 2013: Chen signs a statement with Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a petition, A Year for Human Rights in China on the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, published by Huff Post.

June 1, 2013: Chen is presented with a Freedom of Speech award by the Visual Artist Guild of New York City (PHOTOS).

May 20, 2013: Chen tours England and receives award from British Parliament for his human rights efforts.

May 15, 2013: Chen urges the European Parliament to deny entry to Chinese officials and to freeze all their assets in Europe (VIDEO).

May 9, 2013: Chen Guangcheng’s brother, Chen Guangfu is beaten by “hired thugs” in eastern Shandong Province (VIDEO).

May 1, 2013: Chinese prison authorities deny Chen’s nephew urgent medical treatment for acute appendicitis, while police continue to harass his relatives, according to rights groups.

April 18, 2013: Chen’s family faces harrassment (VIDEO)

January 29, 2013: Chen receives the Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize from Richard Gere

December 3, 2012: Chen appeals to Xi Jinping for reform, releases a video online

November 30, 2012: Chinese court sentences Chen’s nephew, Chen Kegui to three years in prison. His family believe its the Chinese regime’s vengeance against Chen having escaped house arrest (VIDEO).

June 8, 2012: Security guards leave Chen’s home in China’s Shandong Province. Chen’s brother says local officials destroyed evidence of abuses before an impending investigation. Residents in Chen’s hometown, Dongshigu Village remain fearful and feeling intimidated (VIDEO)

May 19, 2012: Chen Guangcheng arrives at Newark Airport, New Jersey missing greeters. He gives his first public speech on U.S. soil at New York University later that evening

May 19, 2012: Chen receives a fellowship to study at New York University. He prepares to leave for the United States. 

May 1, 2012: Chen is admitted to a hospital for a foot injury he sustained while escaping from house arrest. Later he appeals for asylum.

April 2012: Chen escapes from house arrest and seeks safety in the U.S. Embassy for six days. 

December 19, 2011: Hollywood actor Christian Bale is roughed up by Chinese guards when he tries to visit Chen roughed up by Chinese guards when he tries to visit Chen Guangcheng  

December 2011: Due to international and domestic pressure from activists, Chen’s daughter is allowed to attend school, while monitored by guards.

September 2011: Chen’s daughter is denied schooling

June, October 2011: When activists and high-profile individuals visit Chen, they are either turned away by the police or they go missing

June 2011: Chen’s wife writes a letter of appeal, describing the long beatings she and her husband have suffered. 

September 2010: Chen completes his jail term but remains under house arrest.

August 2007: Chen’s wife attempts to go to the Philippines to accept for Chen the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, but Chinese authorities force her to leave.

March 2007: Chen’s family meets with Chen for the first time since his imprisonment. 

August 2006: Chen is sentenced to four years and three months in prison for “damaging property and disrupting traffic.”

July 2006: Chen sues the local government for persecution and abuse. The lawsuit addresses the house arrest and the harassment Chen and his family faced. 

June 2006: Chen is arrested under charges for damaging property and for obstructing traffic by gathering groups of people. 

September 2005: Local authorities put Chen and his entire family under house arrest.

June 2005: Chen files a class-action lawsuit against forced late-term abortions that the local government has enforced.

Early 2005: Chen’s neighbors tell him anecdotes of women being beaten and even kidnapped in order to meet the low birth rate quota set by his village’s new mayor, Li Qun in Shandong province.

 

 

StatementSentence (linguistics), words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request or command

Shannon Liao is a native New Yorker who attended Vassar College and the Bronx High School of Science. She writes business and tech news and is an aspiring novelist.
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