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Chen Guangcheng
The Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who has been held under house arrest for more than a year. Photograph: AP
The Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who has been held under house arrest for more than a year. Photograph: AP

Wellwishers brave beatings to visit lawyer under house arrest in China

This article is more than 12 years old
A trickle of visitors to Chen Guangcheng's house has become a stream, even though they face attacks from thugs who guard him

Many people would like to wish Chen Guangcheng a happy 40th birthday on Saturday; some plan to travel hundreds of miles to his village in Shandong province to do so. None of his wellwishers expect to actually see him.

For more than a year the blind, self-taught lawyer and his family have been under house arrest in Dongshigu, Linyi city, without means of communication. Officials have not accused him of a crime and do not even acknowledge his detention. But dozens of people who have already tried to visit him have been threatened, beaten and pelted with stones by the thugs who guard him.

Remarkably, instead of deterring visitors, such experiences appear to have spurred them on; the initial trickle has become a stream.

Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the support for Chen in part reflected his position as a "poster boy" for the rights movement.

"[But] what motivates activists is that this is an indefensible case … The extent of the persecution of him is out of the ordinary," Bequelin said.

While authorities say that dissidents, such as the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, are jailed because they have broken the law, they have simply denied that Chen is under any restrictions.

"As more and more citizens who travel to visit Chen are met with beatings and other kinds of violence, the central government simply can't repeat the same claim that Chen is a free man any more nor pretend that it has no power to stop the Linyi city government," said Renee Xia, international director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).

Even the state-run Global Times recently suggested authorities in Linyi should provide more information on his case – the first time a Chinese newspaper had mentioned him since before he was jailed.

Chen fell foul of authorities in Linyi city after highlighting official abuses, helping farmers who had lost their land and women forced to have abortions and sterilisations in a brutal family planning crackdown.

He was jailed for four years for damaging property and "organising a mob to disturb traffic" which supporters say was retaliation for his work. He and his wife and children were immediately confined to their home following his release from jail last year.

"I was in a small prison and now I am in a larger prison," Chen said in a video, which friends managed to pass to the outside world. That recording prompted thugs to burst into his home and beat the couple, leaving Chen unconscious, according to a letter smuggled out by his wife months later.

There are increasing concerns about his long-term health problems – he has not received medical treatment – as well as his family's food supply. But this bleak situation has spawned a remarkable show of solidarity which, like the current campaign to lend the artist and activist Ai Weiwei money to pay his tax bill, has taken authorities by surprise. Supporters have donned black sunglasses in their online pictures – mimicking Chen's trademark shades – and posed with slogans demanding his release. Some even dared to hang a banner on Shandong's government office in Beijing.

More remarkably, dozens of people have tried to reach him, knowing full well that previous visitors have been beaten, detained and had their property stolen. In a powerful essay - reproduced on Comment is Free - novelist Murong Xuecun wrote of his visit: "I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to go see him … I didn't want my books to get banned. I didn't want to become a 'sensitive topic'. I'd been invited to lecture in several countries. Most importantly, I was scared. I'm scared of pain, scared of getting beaten, scared of losing my freedom."

The CHRD network reported that almost 100 guards, mostly from other villages, have been hired to keep the family under surveillance around the clock on wages of 100 yuan (£10) a day, far above the average local salary. There are eight monitoring points in the small village and two mobile phone jammers around Chen's house.

Officials have also told residents that Chen is a traitor and ordered them not to discuss him with anyone, not to give directions to his home and to call a dedicated hotline if they find visitors.

Despite the pressure, several neighbours have attempted to help the family – reportedly being detained themselves for up to six months as a result. Some have ended up leaving the village.

Supporters see the fact that Chen's six-year-old daughter is now allowed to go to school – escorted there and back by the family's guards – as a glimmer of hope. It may be a response to international pressure; the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, flagged up his plight again in remarks on Friday.

Asked about Chen at a press briefing last week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said he had no information. Government officials and police in Linyi told the Guardian they had never heard of the case, nor of visitors being attacked.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Obama urges China to improve human rights record amid dissident row

  • China cracks down on media use of the internet for stories

  • Chen Guangcheng's nephew Chen Kegui fears village guards will attack

  • Protect Chen Guangcheng, Mitt Romney tells Barack Obama

  • My visit to Chen Guangcheng

  • Chen Guangcheng's nephew flees in fear for his life

  • Chinese police kill three awol soldiers, say reports

  • Writer who fled China says his friend has been detained for seven months

  • Ai Weiwei's mother accuses officials of hounding her son

  • Chinese police crack down on family of blind dissident Chen Guangcheng

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