POLITICO By TARINI PARTI | 8/1/12 2:19 PM EDT
Chen Guangcheng met with House leadership to discuss China. | Reuters
Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi put partisan bickering on hold Wednesday to meet with blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng.
Chen met with the House leadership and other members on Capitol Hill to discuss human rights abuses in China and his escape to the United States.
“His example humbles us and reminds us why we cherish freedom so much and why we work so hard to protect it,” Boehner said at a press conference after the meeting.
“We cannot remain silent when fundamental human rights are being violated …The Chinese government has a responsibility to do better, and the American government has a responsibility to hold them accountable.”
Chen, an outspoken critic of China’s “one-child policy,” was arrested, beaten in prison and eventually put on house arrest for defending women against forced abortions. He fled to the U.S. Embassy in April and was later allowed to move to the United States with his family. Chen is currently a student at New York University.
More and more Chinese are speaking out against the government and advocating for reforms, Chen said in Chinese to a room packed with reporters.
“I am hopeful that the members here with me today will consider how to take action against China,” he said. “Equality, justice and freedom do not have borders.”
Pelosi joked at the press conference about the rarity of agreeing with Boehner on an issue.
“I don’t often say this, Mr. Speaker, but I do wish to associate myself with your remarks.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the House panel that oversees human rights, held three hearings on Chen last year and nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.
“Chen is a hero,” Smith said in a statement. “He, and his family members and attorneys have all suffered torture because Chen has defended women in Chinese counties who have been targeted, dragged into clinics and forced to abort their children.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79263.html#ixzz22V5jMZ29
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