The Chinese dissident who was recently granted a study abroad in the U.S. wrote in The New York Times on Wednesday that China is a country that lacks “the rule of law,’ a situation which he claims led to his legal travails in that country. He also wrote that he is not seeking asylum in the U.S.
“The fundamental question the Chinese government must face is lawlessness,” he wrote. “China does not lack laws, but the rule of law. As a result, those who handled my case were able to openly flout the nation’s laws in many ways for many years.”
Chen further claims that after his escape from house arrest in April, a "furious pack of thugs” not wearing uniforms entered his brother’s house and assaulted him, and later beat his sister-in-law and nephew with pickax handles. He said that his nephew stabbed -- but did not kill -- one of the attackers. He has been detained, charged with "attempted homicide" and no one has been able to reach him, Chen claims.
Chen escaped house arrest in April, later fleeing to the U.S. embassy in Beijing. His was a case of high-stakes diplomacy between the U.S. and China, which ended with the blind lawyer studying at New York University.
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