Two years ago, an AP story, Agence France-Presse: Chinese human rights lawyer lands in U.S. despite travel ban, published August 04, 2019, featured Lawyer Chen Jiangang. After Lawyer Chen and his family had landed in JFK airport, New York, late night on August 3, 2019, he said: “I started this arduous journey to freedom… to spare my wife and our two children from [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)] persecution by association, and to seek opportunities to work and fight [for human rights and freedom] outside China at a time when China is becoming increasingly repressive”.
He added: “My family and I… thank ChinaAid, China Change, as well as many friends for their rescue work and help. Without them, our family would not have made it to freedom.”
(Credit: ChinaAid resource)
The attorney, Chen Jiangang, spent his career defending the rights of victims of the Chinese Communist Party government oppression. This included colleagues caught up in China’s nationwide sweep of human rights lawyers and Fiona Huang, an American unjustly held in China against her will. When Chen took up Ms. Huang’s case, he fell under increased government scrutiny. After he took up her case, he was taken in for interrogation by Beijing’s Bureau of Justice and threatened with “enforced disappearance.” This prompted ChinaAid to rescue the family.
Previously, he had been blocked from leaving the country for the “Humphrey H. Fellowship Program” in the U.S., which would have allowed him to advance his studies in human rights and law.
When he asked the reason for the ban, officials said it was because he represented Xie Yang, a previously-imprisoned human rights lawyer and because of his acceptance as a visiting scholar to the U.S. Authorities also slapped exit bans on his family members.
In December 2020, even though exiled from China and free in the United States, Lawyer Chen spoke out on behalf of Beijing Lawyer Wang Yu*. On Sunday, November 30, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Justice Bureau authorities phoned Lawyer Wang and informed her that the CCP had revoked her license to practice law Lawyer Chen said: “Both the husband and wife, have been deprived of their way out. Xi Jinping is the number one murderer, the chief CCP oppressor of human rights. Xi Jinping’s era does not allow for real lawyers.”
* the first human rights lawyer arrested in the “709 incident”
