This blind lawyer, whose first name, “Guang Cheng,” means “light” and “integrity,” has been silenced for almost six years because the Chinese government views his assistance to the vulnerable as a threat. Chen’s desire for justice and freedom should put him firmly on the “right side” of history.

(Aquila Report Editor’s Note: Born and raised in mainland China, Bob Fu attended People’s University in Beijing and was a leader of the student democracy movement. In 1989, Bob was led to Christ, and by 1992, was pastor of a house church of 30 students. On May 9,1996, Bob and his wife Heidi were imprisoned. When he was released from prison, Bob and his wife Heidi fled to Hong Kong as tourists, separated from the tour group, and applied repeatedly for visas to America. They arrived on U.S. soil just a few days before the British turned over Hong Kong to Beijing.

In 2002, Bob Fu founded China Aid Association to draw international attention to China’s gross human rights violations against house-church Christians. He has testified before many organizations.

Bob Fu is a PhD candidate of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, visiting professor at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and editor-in-chief of Chinese Law and Religion Monitor Journal. Bob and Heidi have three children, Daniel, Tracy and Melissa.)

The blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng climbed over the back wall of his home April 22 — and escaped nearly six years of torture, malnutrition and isolation. During his detention, Chen became a global star, his dark glasses emblematic of the embattled movement of human rights defenders in China. Chen is my hero and friend. He is under the protection of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. His status and safety present a pivotal test for freedom in China and for U.S. credibility as a defender of freedom.

Chen’s escape was planned carefully for many months. The actor Christian Bale was the most prominent person who tried to visit Chen during his years of house detention, but hundreds of Chinese citizens sought a similar audience and were forcibly turned away by police. Chen’s most passionate supporters were the Chinese netizen community. One netizen, He “Pearl” Peirong, provided logistic support for Chen’s escape, picking him up in Shandong province — where Chen and I both hail from — and taking him to Beijing.

I am awed by the courage of those who helped Chen escape. Pearl told me she is willing to die with Chen because he is such a “pure-hearted courageous person.” I was talking to her last week when she said “guo bao lai le,” that state security had arrived. Now, she is under arrest at an undisclosed location, and her blog has been erased.
Chen is often described as a “dissident,” but that is a misnomer. Despite years of brutal treatment for seeking to bring attention to those victimized by China’s “one-child” policy, he has never established a political party or organization.

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