The Center for Human Rights at the Catholic University of America has recently published an op-ed by Chen Guangcheng commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. To view this article, check the link in the description or go to humanrights.catholic.edu.
Will Deatherage: Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China. My name is Will Deatherage, the producer, and joining me, as always, is Chen Guangcheng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hello, everyone. Hello, Will.
W: Yeah. Today we’re going to talk about how, in late May, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, issued a few statements saying that he’s thinking of… well, Guangcheng, you want to tell him what the Secretary of State was saying?
G: Yeah, I think. Yeah. Now, the State Department has decided to revoke the visas for Chinese students if they are connected to the CCP, and if they try to take some technology information for [the] CCP, they will deport them. I think that is necessary because, maybe 30 years ago, maybe more, the CCP prepared some students and sent them here to work for them to try to steal technology information, or to try to influence the US, or try to threaten the activists who live in the US. So I think Marco Rubio… this is necessary.
W: Yeah. So Guangcheng, I know you were… you mentioned stealing technology or technology theft. Could you explain that a little bit more? What happens?
G: Yeah, yeah. In fact, you know, the CCP has stolen the technology from Western countries, especially in the US, and used the technology to create an internet surveillance system to track Chinese people. And the CCP tried to use that to do propaganda. And they don’t want to let Chinese people know the technology comes from Western countries.
They just say, “Oh, we developed that.” And the CCP is using our technology to prosecute Christians and other groups in mainland China.
W: So Guangcheng, you also mentioned how a lot of these people from Communist China will come here and harass or persecute human rights activists in Western countries. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
G: Yeah. That happened a lot. Not just [in] the US — Europe, England. I think our listeners know about [the] Harvard student commencement speech.
W: Yeah. Can you tell us about that, Guang Cheng?
G: Yeah, yeah. She used that opportunity to fight back against Donald Trump’s administration policy.
W: Right. On revoking the visas, right?
G: Right, yeah. About these visas. And you know, she talked about, “Oh, we should keep DEI.” But if you know, last year, Harvard invited the CCP’s ambassador to give a speech and the students protested the CCP’s ambassador, and this girl worked with another CCP member and took them out of the room.
W: Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that the woman we’re talking about didn’t drag the protester out, but was the organizer of the talk and watched it happen. Right, Guangcheng?
G: Yes, yes.
I know a lot of people who come from China, but they work for [the] CCP. They always support [the] CCP here.
W: Yeah, yeah. I remember when… I grew up on the west coast, and we had a lot of exchange students from China, and most of their parents, they just said they worked for the government and they’re very wealthy. They give a lot of money to these schools. Right, Guangcheng?
G: Yes, yes. Harvard gets a lot of money from [the] CCP and they give a lot of opportunities for [the] CCP’s officials. So that is influence too. And of course, not just Harvard, but [the] CCP’s influence is very deep.
W: Well… and Guangcheng, didn’t you get denied once from giving a speech at Harvard?
G: Yeah, before, [the] Harvard Students organization invited me to give a speech. And because [of] the CCP, they said they have to postpone my speech; I can come back later. But of course, that is not postponed, that is canceled, right? Until now, more than 10 years have passed. They never say, “Oh, now you can come here to give a speech.”
And if you go to the college vice president’s website, you will see they teach in Beijing, Shanghai, every year. So they get a lot of money from [the] CCP. This is why they support [the] CCP.
W: Yeah. Well, we’ll continue following what the State Department does. And Guangcheng, we thank you very much for the information that you’ve given us today. And be sure to follow us on social media and our website at humanrights.catholic.edu.
G: Yeah, thank you, Will. Thank you [to] our listeners, and you know, we are recording this on June 4. 36 years ago, the CCP killed a lot of students in Beijing, Tiananmen Square. So I wrote an article and I hope you can read it and share it. Thank you.
W: Yeah, we have the translation on our website, humanrights.catholic.edu. You’ll be able to find it in the description. Thank you, Guangcheng.
G: Thank you, Will. Thank you, everyone.
The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights has published a documentary on the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The documentary features world class human rights experts from former State Department officials to ambassadors and human rights activists. It can be found on our website at humanrights.catholic.edu.