Chen Guangcheng’s True Worth to America

Recent happenings in Asia have clarified Hillary Clinton’s “smart strategy,” a political tactic she has emphasized ever since her appointment as the U.S. secretary of state. Externally, the gist of the strategy is to convince small Asian nations to create drama outside China’s doorstep and contain its military influence within the continent. While China gets itself occupied with these petty issues, America looks to build influence in the Far East. Internally, America would encourage dissenting voices in China to magnify the dissatisfaction with the government. The Hong Kong media is a rebellious voice; its constant negative perspective on the CCP is a perfect fit to America’s plans. The media would highlight the unjust treatment with human rights lawyers to gather sympathy around the world while the CCP would adopt the villain’s role.

Chen as America’s Important Chess Piece

Human rights lawyer Chen Guangshing is a candidate carefully selected by the U.S. government. Without proper attorney training and certification, private practice is out of the question for the blind activist. Hence, America insists on calling him a lawyer and further portrays him as the ultimate weakling to draw sympathy worldwide. These are calculated moves on the U.S. government’s behalf as their politicians have been monitoring and sponsoring Chen financially since year 2000.

Neither Chen nor his wife has a proper job but their decent lives in the rural village in Shandong lead to the question of how. Chen indeed has a job: to expose China’s dark sides such as birth policy, normal and blind civilians’ rights issues, corruption within the government, etc. to various media and foreign sources like Radio Free Asia. These organizations and overseas media help spread these materials to raise global awareness. These problems can sabotage China’s image and possibly create room for condemnation. America means to exploit China’s weakness and nothing is more effective than manipulating the voices of opposition within the country. America’s continuous efforts in collaborating with these activists over the years have established an anti-government network within China.

America is the perpetrator in developing Chen’s heroic persona. Back in 2006, Time magazine included Chen as one of the Time 100. In March 2007, Chen received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, established by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. It is an accolade which honors Asian individuals or organizations with outstanding achievements. It is also known as the East’s Nobel Prize. Some western media and anti-communist groups in Hong Kong even dubbed Chen as the flattering “Barefoot Lawyer” and “Rights Protection Hero.” As always greater fame comes with greater responsibilities and Chen has received more difficult assignments from the U.S. government ever since.

Chen is known as the “blind lawyer,” but he does not make a living by taking on cases. A fellow activist, Liu Xiao Bo, complimented Chen’s clear conscience in one of his essays: “Mr. Chen was born and raised in the farm and lost his vision when he was 12 months old… Sometime between 2000 and 2001, Chen started a project that aimed at protecting the handicapped from human rights abuse and received funding from the British government. In January 2005, he was in charge of the activist project in his hometown Shan Dong, financially backed by the NED.” According to the media, the NED alone has contributed 4 million RMB, and both the CIA and the U.S. Congress were pulling strings behind the curtain.

Over the last two decades, the U.S. government has spent billions nurturing student activists who fled China after the Tiananmen Massacre. The objective was to see these exiles return to their homeland in the future and cause havoc for the Communist regime. However, examples such as Fang Lizhi, Wei Jin Sheng and Wang Dan have yet to trouble the Chinese regime thus far. For 20 years, “The Alliance” (Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China) has been bad-mouthing the CCP’s reputation in Hong Kong but its efforts have been futile. The U.S. government is of the opinion that the “Rehabilitate June 4” anti-CCP propaganda fails because public support is weak. After all, the population in Hong Kong were never direct victims of the massacre and it would be difficult to generate the rage needed to overthrow the Communist Party. As China enters a new age in economic development, the government is unable to keep up with its management. Corruption, the widened gap between the wealthy and poor, and insufficiency in housing, medicare, education and social security may be the spark for more unrest in China. The Alliance believes the time has come to take advantage of the situation and is switching its propaganda focus. Instead of the old Tiananmen jargon it seems like society discontent towards rights activists’ treatment may result in further chaos in China. The U.S. government has set the stage for another “Arab Spring” in China and is resuming its support of the activists, which also serves as a litmus test to China’s tolerance concerning human rights issues.

The U.S. Embassy of Beijing’s involvement in the Chen Guangshing drama was a provocative move by the American government, with the intention to see possible flexibility in strategy changes.

Hillary Clinton Orchestrates the Operation

There were reports that on April 25, the U.S. Embassy in China received a call from Nanjing activist He Peirong (aka “Pearl”) concerning Chen’s whereabouts. After learning of Chen’s hideout in suburban Beijing and his leg injury, the State Department called an emergency meeting, for which Hillary Clinton decided to have officials escort Chen to the embassy. They probably thought their vehicles’ embassy status was enough to camouflage their plan to pick up Chen, but the Chinese government already knew the ins and outs about the operation. The CCP held on to these facts and condemned the U.S. government for violating the Geneva Pact for its direct involvement in the Chen Guangshing incident. During a recap, an American official admitted the significance behind this controversial matter between the two countries and that its outcome could remain a conundrum.

According to the American press, once Chen arrived to the embassy, the U.S. Department of State held several meetings to decide on solutions for the diplomatic crisis. On April 27, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell revealed updates on Chen to Chinese delegates as an attempt to force them to the table for direct talks. By detonating the bomb, America was playing hardball with the CCP and looked to support the activists even more blatantly in future days.

Kurt Campbell flew to Beijing to meet with Ambassador Gary Locke and Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh to discuss crisis management. Everyone knew the crisis must be taken care of or else the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the two countries, scheduled to take place in the next few days, would be endangered.

The Chinese government held a firm stance regarding the matter and America knew right away that its plan to forcefully take Chen under its wings had failed. According to Chen, he was convinced to leave the embassy after embassy officials told him that his wife could be beaten to death. The U.S. Department of State spokesperson refuted Chen’s claims: “The U.S. Embassy has never expressed such words to Mr. Chen, and neither did the Chinese government request to transmit such a message to him.”

Considering the evidence available, it is obvious that America has violated international pacts. The American government’s behavior was inappropriate for its interruption in China’s domestic affairs. Without a doubt, the Chinese government needs to take necessary measures to avoid similar scenarios from happening in the future. Despite America’s continuous emphasis on building a formidable and trusting relationship between the two nations, the Chen Guangshing incident shows that its sincerity is lacking. The atmosphere is getting tense and there have been rumors about Gary Locke’s possible departure from Beijing. Moreover, Hillary Clinton may also leave her post come November. After all, if the wind comes from an empty cave, it is not without a reason.