Latest Additions

  • 05/17/2012 in Article affecting Beijing province(s)

    ChinaAid News Flash: Chinese Officials Start Paperwork for Blind Legal Activist Chen Guangcheng to Leave China

    (Beijing—May 16, 2012). Less than 24 hours after a Congressional hearing on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, during which the blind activist and lawyer was able to speak directly to the hearing, Chinese officials visited Chen at his Beijing hospital room on Wednesday to deliver the forms needed to apply for a passport to leave the country. The officials from the Shandong Provincial Public Security Department also collected the passport fees for Chen and his family of four and said their passports would be issued within 15 days.

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  • 05/16/2012 in Article affecting ALL province(s)

    ChinaAid’s Bob Fu Testifies at Congressional Hearing, Chen Guangcheng Again Speaks to Hearing via Fu’s cellphone (testimony text below)

    (Washington, D.C.—May 15, 2012) For the second time in two weeks, blind human rights activist and lawyer Chen Guangcheng on Tuesday was able to speak directly to a Congressional hearing via the cellphone of ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu. The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health & Human Rights convened the hearing on “Chen Guangcheng: His Case, Cause, Family, and Those Who are Helping Him” at 1 p.m. Friday afternoon in the Rayburn House Office Building. Fu was one of four witnesses invited to testify. The text of his prepared remarks is below.

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  • 05/16/2012 in Article affecting ALL province(s)

    The New York Times: Bush Dips a Toe Back Into Washington

    WASHINGTON — In the three years since he left office, former President George W. Bush has largely stayed out of the political arena. He has spent his time mapping out his library, making speeches, hosting injured veterans for Texas bicycle rides and making clear how glad he is to be out of the nation’s capital. But gingerly, the 43rd president is beginning to add his voice back into the national dialogue. A month ago, he spoke publicly in favor of one of his defining domestic legacies, the tax cuts that still divide the country. Two months from now, he plans to publish a book outlining strategies for economic growth. And on Tuesday, he made a rare return to Washington to promote freedom overseas.

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  • 05/15/2012 in Article affecting Hebei province(s)

    House Churches in Xinjiang, Hebei See Encouraging Progress in Lawsuits Against Local Authorities

    Baoding, Hebei—May 14, 2012) House church Christians in Hebei province and the far western region of Xinjiang have seen encouraging progress recently in lawsuits they filed against local authorities who had raided their meetings and detained church members, ChinaAid has learned. Both cases are being handled by well-known Christian rights defense lawyer Zhang Kai.

    Tags: Protestant, Protestant,
  • 05/14/2012 in Article affecting Anhui province(s)

    Church in Hefei, Anhui Province Illegally Demolished By Government-Backed Real Estate Developers

    (Hefei, Anhui—May 13, 2012) A church in the provincial capital of coastal Anhui province was illegally demolished last month by government-backed real estate developers who left the church site looking like the scene of a bombing in a movie, ChinaAid has learned. The members of the church in Zou Gang, Feixi county are calling for urgent prayers following the April 27 destruction of their 800 square-meter (8,600 square-feet) church building. They hope to be able to resume normal worship services and meetings soon.

    Tags: Protestant, Protestant,

Other News

  • May 17, 2012 in WORLD - Asia

    China Protests Dalai Lama Meeting

    The Dalai Lama meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron (C) and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (R) at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, May 14, 2012. China summoned Britain’s ambassador in Beijing on Tuesday to protest British Prime Minister David Cameron’s meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. But London stood its ground, saying Cameron is free to meet with anyone he chooses.

  • May 16, 2012 in WORLD - Asia

    Dallas News: Bob Fu Participates Bush Freedom Collection Event in DC

    WASHINGTON - Former President George W. Bush broke his silence on the 2012 presidential race and informally endorsed Mitt Romney on Tuesday, ABC News reports. "I'm for Mitt Romney," Bush said when asked by a reporter after an event promoting a project of the George W. Bush Presidential Center , which will be built at Southern Methodist University. When the GOP primary was still competitive, Bush had declined to pick a favorite, despite a highly public endorsement by his father, President George H.W. Bush, for the former Massachusetts governor.

  • May 15, 2012 in WORLD - Asia

    Uyghurs Face 'Fight for Existence'

    Rebiya Kadeer at the opening session of the World Uyghur Congress's biennial meeting in Tokyo, May 14, 2012. Ethnic Uyghurs are facing a struggle for survival in the face of growing repression, exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer said Monday as she launched a biennial meeting of the World Uyghur Congress hosted by Japan against China’s objections. "Before, we were fighting for our rights, we were protesting against China's oppression," Kadeer told reporters after the opening of the four-day WUC talks in Tokyo. "But now we face a fight for our existence,” said Kadeer, the president of the WUC, a Germany-based group representing Uyghurs worldwide and holding its biennial meeting in Asia for the first time, after previous congresses in Munich and Washington.

  • May 14, 2012 in WORLD - Asia

    The New York Times: Echoing Out of Texas, Chinese Voice of Dissent for Religious Freedom

    MIDLAND, Tex. — When the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng stole the show at an emergency Congressional hearing this month by calling into the chamber during a live television broadcast, few people noticed who was holding the cellphone. But those within the tightknit community of Chinese dissidents in the United States, and their supporters, immediately recognized the man, who had arranged for Mr. Chen’s voice to be carried to Washington directly from his Beijing hospital bed: Bob Fu, a Chinese-born pastor who operates out of a squat, whitewashed house opposite a Family Dollar store here in Midland. “When it comes to contacts in China, Bob’s network can’t be beat,” said Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, who convened the hearing to put pressure on the Obama administration and help ensure that Mr. Chen, a self-taught lawyer, would be allowed to leave China with his family to study law in the United States.

  • May 13, 2012 in WORLD - Asia

    BREAKING NEWS: Chen Guangcheng’s nephew charged with "intentional homicide," could face death sentence

    (Yinan, Shandong—May 11, 2012) ChinaAid has just learned that the nephew of blind, self-taught lawyer Chen Guangcheng has been formally arrested and charged with "intentional homicide," a crime that carries the death sentence. The formal arrest of Chen’s nephew Chen Kegui took place on Wednesday May 9, and the formal arrest notification with the charge of “intentional homicide” was delivered to Chen Kegui’s mother, Ren Zongju on Thursday May 10. They were executed by the Yinan County People’s Procuratorate and the Yinan Public Security Bureau.