Darrow Miller and Friends

The Price for Fighting Gendercide – The Story of Chen Guangcheng

Our friend, Chai Ling of All Girls Allowed, testified before the Congress of the United States today regarding the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng. Please see her words below and pray that Chen Guangcheng would be reunited with his family and would be free to leave China. Here is part of Chai Ling’s testimony. – Darrow Miller

Last week, I and other advocates of freedom in China watched with joy as Chen Guangcheng made his bid for freedom. Truth mirrored art in his escape, which played out like The Shawshank Redemption. (Chinese web censors even placed “Shawshank” on their list of banned search terms.) The blind lawyer scaled a wall, crossed a river, and evaded eight rings of vigilant guards to break free. He then traveled on foot through fields for twenty hours before meeting activist He Peirong at a pre-arranged location. She and others risked their lives to take him to the US Embassy in Beijing, where they knew he would find freedom.

But we let them down. Shamefully, US officials encouraged Chen to leave the Embassy and stay in China, in accordance with the Chinese government’s request. He left the Embassy yesterday morning under duress after being told that the Chinese authorities were going to take his wife and children back to Shandong and remove the possibility of reunification. The US denied that any coercion took place—but if this is not coercion, then what is? What has become of the American government? Is it a mere enabler of the Chinese officials’ brutal treatment of Chen, plus the millions of women and children he defended?

US Embassy staff assured Chen they would stay with him at the hospital to ensure his safety, but left him without protest after the Chinese told them “visiting hours” had ended. They also failed to get a written version of the agreement they reached with the Chinese negotiators, an elementary error that could have disastrous consequences. They should have known better, having been given the authority to represent America. How could anyone not see the necessity of a written statement? And how could they ignore the fate of the activists who helped Chen escape? Many of them have been jailed since Friday.

Now Chen’s wife is reporting that the family is in grave danger. He is under surveillance and American officials have reportedly been barred from visiting him.

I do not believe that Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Locke were simply naïve, that they thought China would honor its word and allow Chen to live in freedom and safety. Nor do I want to believe that they willfully misled Chen into thinking this was a possibility. Freedom for human rights activists within China is not a reality, and I can only conclude that the current administration viewed Chen Guangcheng as a distraction that needed to be dealt with quickly—he was just a fly to be swatted away before diplomatic talks began. But this “fly” they swatted is a hero to everyone in China who values freedom and admires the United States’ commitment to humanity. With sadness, I can tell you that the network of activists that watched this week with bated breath is now demoralized and hopeless.

I will not mince my words: this was an unqualified disaster. It was a disaster for the Obama administration, for the America we love, and for those in China who pray for freedom. If there is any way to turn this around, we must. And I call upon you, Honorable Members of Congress, to try.

Read more at All Girl’s Allowed.

 

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About 
Darrow is co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance and a featured author and teacher. For over 30 years, Darrow has been a popular conference speaker on topics that include Christianity and culture, apologetics, worldview, poverty, and the dignity of women. From 1981 to 2007 Darrow served with Food for the Hungry International (now FH association), and from 1994 as Vice President. Before joining FH, Darrow spent three years on staff at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland where he was discipled by Francis Schaeffer. He also served as a student pastor at Northern Arizona University and two years as a pastor of Sherman Street Fellowship in urban Denver, CO. In addition to earning his Master’s degree in Adult Education from Arizona State University, Darrow pursued graduate studies in philosophy, theology, Christian apologetics, biblical studies, and missions in the United States, Israel, and Switzerland. Darrow has authored numerous studies, articles, Bible studies and books, including Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Culture (YWAM Publishing, 1998), Nurturing the Nations: Reclaiming the Dignity of Women for Building Healthy Cultures (InterVarsity Press, 2008), LifeWork: A Biblical Theology for What You Do Every Day (YWAM, 2009), Rethinking Social Justice: Restoring Biblical Compassion (YWAM, 2015), and more. These resources along with links to free e-books, podcasts, online training programs and more can be found at Disciple Nations Alliance (https://disciplenations.org).
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