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Will Deatherage: Hello everyone, welcome to the Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China. This is Will Deatherage, the producer. Joining me as always is Chen Guangcheng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hello Will, hello everyone. I’m glad to see you here again.
W: Yeah, and today we have another story pertaining to Chinese human rights activists in Hong Kong. Guangcheng, can you let us know what’s going on?
G: Today we will talk about Guo Fengyi’s case from Hong Kong. The CCP tried to arrest her because she attended the protest in Hong Kong 3 years ago, and later the CCP created the new law to control Hong Kong. So she had to escape to the US. Now she lives in Washington, DC, and created an organization to focus on Hong Kong here.
Yeah, but her case is, just recently the CCP sentenced her father. In mainland China, you know, if, in your family, one person stands up to oppose [the] CCP, they will punish the whole family and friends and extended family – even stop your children to go[ing] out, and call[ing] the boss, stop your job like this.
W: They just make life really difficult.
G: Yeah. Yes. Yes. And now, you can see, after [the] CCP tore down Hong Kong’s judicial system, they can do it in Hong Kong too. So that proves the freedom of Hong Kong is gone. The CCP can control all the judicial system. No media is free now.
W: Her family is still in Hong Kong, right?
G: Yeah, her family is still in Hong Kong. The family paid money in some insurance, but she will not use [it] anymore in Hong Kong. Just because her father [went] to the company to stop that, to get the money back, the CCP said, “Oh, you helped the criminal.”
W: So just because he’s her father.
G: Yeah, so evil. So I want to use these keys to let our listeners understand. Now, Hong Kong is not free. Yeah.
W: And Guangcheng, this is all coming in the aftermath of Jimmy Lai’s sentencing too, right?
G: Yeah. I think in the future, the CCP will do more and more like this in Hong Kong.
W: Yeah. Guangcheng, do you think, you know, like 10, 20 years from now, what do you think Hong Kong will be like if the CCP keeps doing this?
G: If the situation cannot change, the CCP will control everything in Hong Kong. But if the… If foreign countries work hard and join hands with Chinese people, maybe after several years we can tear down [the] CCP system. We can help China to become a democratic country.
W: Yeah, Guangcheng, I know that in the aftermath of China’s takeover, there were a lot of activists that fled Hong Kong. Are there still many people back there who are trying to fight against the CCP, or what’s that like right now?
G: I think the people still fight [the] CCP. Yeah, even some people in mainland China, when they heard the CCP sentenced Jimmy Lai [to] 20 years, they were so angry, they wrote something on social media. They know if they wrote something to support Jimmy Lai, the CCP will send the police to come to their house to threaten them, right?
But they still do that. So that proves they are brave. So I hope the foreign countries’ people believe, too, to stand up to support the activists and to give[the] CCP big pressure.
W: Now, Guangcheng, what law, can you say again, did they say that he broke?
G: The law several years ago the CCP just created to control Hong Kong. That law tried to protect the party’s power, but the name said that law protects the state power.
W: Right. So he was seen as a threat to the state power. Then according to the CCP?
G: Yeah, [he] threatened the power or tried to change the power, like that.
W: Gotcha. Well, we’ll continue updating our listeners on this situation on our website humanrights.catholic.edu. Guangcheng, thank you so much for sharing this story.
G: Thank you, Will. Thank you, everyone.
This summer, a new documentary follows Chen Guangcheng as he travels to California to meet artist Chen Weiming at Liberty Sculpture Park, where powerful works of art confront the reality of human rights abuses under the Chinese Communist Party. Through their encounter, the film highlights the cost of speaking truth under authoritarianism and the enduring role of art and witness in the fight for freedom. Stay tuned for its release this summer.