Dissident calls for end of ‘leadership of thieves’

WASHINGTON—Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng on Tuesday urged China’s people to end the communist-governed nation’s “leadership of thieves” and for Washington not to “give an inch” on human rights in its relations with Beijing.

Chen made the comments as he received an award from a human rights group in a ceremony attended by several U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill. His speech was a stinging rebuke to authorities in China where he had faced years of persecution for his legal activism against forced abortions and for citizens’ rights.

The 41-year old self-taught lawyer, who was blinded by fever in infancy, caused a diplomatic crisis last April when he fled house arrest in rural China and sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. China subsequently allowed him to come to the U.S. to study law.

Chen said at a time of transformation in China, international pressure is extremely important but the main actors in bringing reform to the one-party state should be the Chinese themselves.

“We need to bring to an end this period of history during which the Communist authority maintains a monopoly on power and enslaves the people through a leadership of thieves, and establish a truly civil society,” Chen said, standing alongside his wife Yuan Weijing.

He encouraged Chinese people to emulate Myanmar, which is shifting from five decades of military rule.

Chen cautioned the U.S. government against compromising on human rights in its relations with China because of economic and business interests.