Chinese human rights lawyer put his weight behind Trump at the RNC

On the third day of the Republican National Convention, prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng gave a speech in which he talked about how the Chinese government persecuted him before he was allowed to flee to the United States in 2012. He also touched on why he thought current U.S. president Donald Trump is the leader that has shown courage to win the fight against Beijing.

Chen, who was known for fighting against forced abortions carried out under China’s one child policy, faced years of detention, house arrest and repeated harassment until he took refuge at the U.S. embassy in China in April, 2012. At the time, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expected to visit Beijing and after months of negotiation, Chen was allowed to fly to the United States. He has lived in the U.S. ever since.

On Wednesday, Chen began his speech by saying that he knew standing up to a tyranny isn’t easy. Then he went on to talked about how he suffered years of persecution, beatings, imprisonment and house arrest for speaking out against the one child policy and other injustices in China.

“In April 2012, I escaped and was given shelter in the US embassy,” Chen said. “I’m forever grateful to the American people for welcoming me and my family to the US, where we are now free.”

In a sharp turn of his tone, Chen began to aim directly at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “The CCP is an enemy of humanity,” Chen said. “It is terrorizing its own people. It is threatening the well-being of the world. In China, expressing beliefs or ideas not approved by the CCP, including religion, democracy, human rights can lead to prison.”

Chen called on the US to use its values of freedom, democracy and rule of law to build a coalition of democratic countries to stop the CCP’s aggression. “President Trump has led on this and we need other countries to join him in this fight,” Chen said. “Standing up to fight unfairness isn’t easy. President Trump has shown the courage to win this fight. We need to support, vote and fight for president Trump for the sake of the world.”

Mixed views on Chen’s speech

Chen’s speech generated mixed views among the overseas Chinese community on Twitter. Some users noted that Chen has the freedom to choose whoever he wants to support in this election. Former June Fourth Student leader Zhou Fengsuo praised Chen’s speech on Twitter, highlighting the significance of Wednesday night’s occasion, as it’s the first time that a Chinese dissident was able to talk about human rights issues in China and how China threatens the world on such a big stage.

However, some critics think Chen’s support for Trump may have deviated from the values of basic human rights that he has been upholding for years. Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao, who participated in the effort to rescue Chen while he was still in China, said when Chen arrived in the US in 2012, he tried to remind him not to be used by some far-right political groups in the U.S.

“As a human rights defender, I think there is zero logical consistency to support Trump,” Teng said. “Trump made many comments that showed he is not interested in human rights issues. According to John Bolton’s memoir, Trump once told Xi Jinping that he thinks Xi has been doing the right thing in Xinjiang. Over the last few years, Trump has also done some things that damaged the value of freedom and rule of law.”

Teng pointed out that one of the reasons why more than half of the Chinese dissidents support Trump is because of his administration’s tough stance on China. “Trump’s hardline policies have indeed created some trouble for Beijing, and that’s one of the main reasons why Chinese dissidents support him,” Teng explained. “However, Trump didn’t adopt hardline policies against China because he really cares about human rights issues in China. He does it out of his calculation as a businessman.”

Teng said if the U.S. government is willing to take a tough stance on human rights issues in China, he would also support the administration’s decision. “However, Trump isn’t someone who can really help to improve the human rights situation in China.”

This article was first published in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.