Gao Zhisheng's Wife Happy for Chen Guangcheng

The wife of renowned Chinese rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, conveys her well wishes to blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng. This comes after Chen and his family arrived in the United States over the weekend.

[Geng He, Wife of Gao Zhisheng]:
“I am very happy that Guangcheng is free at last. I send my wishes to Guangcheng and his family.”

Geng spoke with NTD from San Francisco. She and her two children have settled there since fleeing China in 2009. Her husband, a prominent dissident lawyer, remains imprisoned in China’s far-west Xinjiang Province.

Geng recounted the time in 2005 when Gao and others tried to visit Chen who was under illegal house arrest.

[Geng He, Wife of Gao Zhisheng]:
“The four or five of them all wore T-shirts with Chen Guangcheng’s picture. They came back the next night, all topless with just their pants on. All of their tops were taken off, they also had marks on their bodies.”

Geng says their two families have suffered the same fate at the hands of the Chinese regime’s Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, or PLAC. It’s an agency with wide-reaching security and judiciary powers tasked with suppressing dissent.

[Geng He, Wife of Gao Zhisheng]:
“The persecution of my family is the same as the persecution of Chen Guangcheng. That’s because both are directed by the PLAC.”

Geng says Chen’s arrival in the US is encouraging. She hopes more can be done to free her husband.

[Geng He, Wife of Gao Zhisheng]:
“While I’m happy, there’s still pain in my heart. Gao Zhisheng is still in Shayang Prison in Xinjiang.”

Gao was once regarded as one of China’s most promising rights lawyers. He became a target of the Chinese authorities in 2006 after making public calls on the Communist Regime to end the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice. His latest prison term came after extended periods of enforced disappearances by Chinese authorities.