Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) are introducing a resolution that not only supports activist Chen Guangcheng but condemns forced abortions and sterilizations in China.
The Chen affair sparked what many called a diplomatic fiasco last week when the human-rights lawyer sought asylum in the U.S. Offered a fellowship to study in America, China said it would consider a student visa for the man who fought against the inhumanity of the one-child policy and escaped from house arrest last month, taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy.
Graham and Ayotte’s resolution lauds Chen for exposing the People’s Republic population control abuses.
“Chen continued his campaign despite being warned by one Chinese government official that ‘offending the government isn’t good,'” it notes of his activism. “Chen confirmed the stories of Chinese mistreatment of him during house arrest by saying ‘All the stories online about the brutal treatment I received from the Linyi authorities, I can personally testify they are true. The reality is even harsher than the stories that have been circulating.'”
It adds that those who helped Chen escape his house arrest have since reportedly disappeared or been questioned by Chinese state security officials.
The resolution should put some in the Senate in a tricky spot, though, as is “affirms that forced abortions and sterilization procedures represent a gross violation of human rights” and “calls on the government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately halt all forced abortions and sterilizations.”
About 35,000 abortions a day are performed in China. The Chinese government officially denies any of them are forced.
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