Congressman Christopher Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, today announced an emergency hearing on recent developments and history of the Chen Guangcheng case. The hearing is set for Thursday, May 3, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., in Room 2118 (first floor) of the Rayburn House Office Building.

    The recent escape of self-trained legal advocate Chen Guangcheng from illegal house arrest has attracted international attention and concern. On April 22, Chen escaped from his home in Dongshigu village, Linyi city, Shandong province, where he and his family had been detained without charge for 19 months. After escaping from home confinement, Chen met the U.S. Ambassador and Administration officials at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and received medical treatment. Recent reports suggest that U.S. and Chinese officials have negotiated an agreement that would permit Chen and his family to remain in China with assurances from the Chinese government that they can live a normal life. The Commission hearing will address ongoing developments in the Chen Guangcheng case and reported prospects for himself, his family and his supporters. Witnesses will discuss details of the previous detention of Chen and his family under an illegal form of "house arrest," as well as his escape to seek safety at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In addition, witnesses will also address Chen's legal advocacy work.

    Chen, a self-trained legal advocate who has represented farmers, the disabled and other groups, is perhaps best known for the attention he drew to population planning abuses, particularly forced abortions and forced sterilizations, in Linyi, in 2005. In deeply flawed legal proceedings, authorities sentenced him in 2006 to four years and three months in prison. Following his release in September 2010, Chen, his wife Yuan Weijing, and their six-year-old daughter were subjected to beatings, home confinement and constant surveillance. Throughout the detention, Chinese authorities undertook forceful measures to prevent and harass journalists and supporters who attempted to visit the family.

Witnesses:
Pastor Bob Fu, Founder and President, ChinaAid Association
Chai Ling, Founder, All Girls Allowed
Wang Xuezhen, human rights advocate
Reggie Littlejohn, President, Women's Rights Without Frontiers

*Additional witnesses may be added

The Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China is a congressionally-mandated, bipartisan panel made up of Members of the House and Senate and Presidential appointees serving in the Obama Administration.