Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng has been awarded this year’s Leopoldo López Freedom and Democracy Award, which will be presented at a web conference this Thursday.
Prominent Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng has been awarded the Leopoldo López Freedom and Democracy Award, which will be presented at a web conference this Thursday (8). (By Derek Fong)
According to the Center for the Study of American Democracy (CSAD), the Leopoldo López Freedom and Democracy Award was established in 2019 by the family and classmates of prominent Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López to honor Lopez for his contributions to the peaceful advancement of freedom and democracy. The award was given to Chen Guangcheng in recognition of his extraordinary efforts to build the rule of law in China, and the significant price he and his family have paid for doing so.
Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights activist from Shandong, defended the rights of his citizens by studying law on his own, after publicly attacking China’s family planning policy and revealing injustices such as forced abortions, arbitrary arrests of relatives and large fines. In April 2012, Chen fled Shandong with the help of friends and sought asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China were also strained at the time around Chen’s departure.
Cheng Yuan’s wife and daughter arrived in the U.S. and said they were “free”. (Photo by Shi Minglei on Twitter)
Shi Minglei arrives in the U.S.
In addition, Cheng Yuan, a staff member of the Hunan NGO “Changsha Fu Neng”, was criminally detained in September of last year on charges of “subverting state power” and has been in detention for nearly a year and a half. His wife, Shi Minglei, tweeted Thursday that she had arrived in the United States with her 5-year-old daughter.
Shi Minglei thanked the U.S. State Department and embassy for their assistance, and called on Chinese officials involved in her husband’s case to release Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi and Wu Ge Jianxiong as soon as possible, otherwise the family will not stop defending their rights and speaking out.
Wang Zang’s family is besieged by public security and in a difficult situation
In addition, Thursday marked the 313th day of detention for poet Wang Zang, 293 days for Wang Zang’s wife Wang Li, and the 293rd day of restriction of personal freedom for Wang Zang’s mother and four young children. Wang Zang’s friends sent supplies to Wang Zang’s mother and four children by courier, but they were actually detained by the Chuxiong Public Security Bureau. Friend Ni Yulan posted on Twitter, asking the Chuxiong Public Security Bureau to return the detained courier to Wang Zang’s children, and stressing that the children’s right to live cannot be arbitrarily deprived.
Ni Yulan once again called for the release of Wang Zang and his wife, the cessation of surveillance of the elderly and their four young children, and the protection of the family’s most basic rights to live, to speak out and to be outdoors.
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