China: Chen Guangcheng talks of officials’ crazy scare tactics

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has accused local officials of detaining two of his relatives and hounding others in revenge for his recent escape from house arrest and for sparking an international furore.

Mr Chen, whose escape last month led to a diplomatic crisis in US-Sino relations, said a sister-in-law and nephew had both been detained.

He has spoken of his fears of reprisals against his family, but his remarks yesterday, corroborated by the lawyer, are the first time he has relayed details of an orchestrated campaign.

“Now they’re going crazy with reprisals,” Mr Chen said in a telephone interview from a Beijing hospital where he is being treated for injuries suffered during his escape from house arrest in Shandong.

“In fact, they’ve already started taking revenge.”

He said relatives in Shandong were bearing the brunt of officials’ anger.

The reprisals were, he said, weighing heavily on his mind, though for now he was unlikely to delay his plans to go to the US. “It shouldn’t. We’ll see,” he said.

Mr Chen said his biggest worry was the fate of his nephew Chen Kegui. He said police had detained Chen Kegui after accusing him of brandishing a cleaver at guards who stormed into his brother’s home after his escape. “It seems the Yinan public security say he’s in their hands,” said Mr Chen, adding that a sister-in-law had also been detained.