四海为家

It’s been a depressing week in news from China. Christian Bale was beaten up by the guards outside of Chen Guangcheng’s house — not the person I would have expected to make such an admirable move, perhaps trying to make clear where he stands on moral issues after his latest film role? Gao Zhisheng, the famous human rights lawyer who has been missing for almost two years, has now reportedly been given a 3 year prison sentence, although no one has been allowed to meet him or confirm the state of his health (given the fact that he’s been tortured in the past, there’s reason to be worried). And the village of Wukan in southern China has been surrounded by a police/army barricade after the town broke out into revolt following the brutal death of a popular villager chosen to negotiate on behalf of farmers in a land dispute. It’s one of those incredibly frustrating stories that seems to happen constantly in China – corrupt land deals that lead to poor farmers or home owners losing their property, mysterious and brutal deaths of leaders once they disappear into police custody, and very rarely positive outcomes.