Greg in China

China overturns activist sentence – BBC News Online

Rights groups insist Chen, who is blind, did not get a fair trial

A Chinese court has thrown out a guilty verdict against Chen Guangcheng, an activist who raised concerns about forced abortions.

"It was found that there have been serious violations in the legal procedures," said Mr Chen's lawyer.

Mr Chen, 34, was found guilty of public order offences in August, and sentenced to more than four years in jail.

His case drew international criticism, with rights advocates saying he did not receive a fair trial.

The Linyi City Intermediate Court has now quashed Mr Chen's conviction, and ordered a retrial.

The BBC's Beijing correspondent says successful appeals are extremely rare in China's court system, so the ruling on Mr Chen came as a welcome surprise to his lawyers and family.

His case will go back to a lower court in Yinan County, one of Mr Chen's lawyers, Li Jingsong, told the BBC.

"The court said it was because the process of the first trial was unfair and facts and evidence… were not tenable and did not hold water," Mr Li said.

"This case is also a victory for justice in the world, as being a defence lawyer I have seen that it has received international support," he added.

The retrial should take place within two months.

Retribution?

Chen Guangcheng was sentenced to four years and three months in jail for "damaging property and organising a mob to disturb traffic".

The official Xinhua news agency reported that he had launched an attack on government offices and police cars in Yinan County, because he was upset with workers carrying out poverty-relief programmes.

But Mr Chen's supporters said that local officials had fabricated these charges, in order to punish him for exposing violations of China's one-child policy.

Mr Chen had accused local health workers in Linyi city, in Shandong province, of forcing hundreds of people to have late-term abortions or sterilisations.

His allegations were covered in the international media, including an article in Time Magazine which claimed some 7,000 people had been sterilised against their will in the province.

Several workers were later arrested or sacked over the claims, state media reported, acknowledging "successive complaints" about illegal practices in Linyi.

China brought in its one-child policy 25 years ago, in a drive to curb population growth. But forced sterilisation and abortion are illegal.

• My parents arrived in Kunming on 14th July and we spent a few days hanging out before taking a bus to Dali, where we spent a few days. Did all the usual stuff: visiting Erhai Lake, going up Mt. Cangshan, shopping, eating and drinking.
  
  
• We then took a bus to Lijiang where my brother, Lucas, joined our merry band. We stayed in a modest but friendly family guesthouse which was a traditional Lijiang courtyard house. Lijiang was not at all as I'd remembered it from my visit in 1998. Overpriced, swarming with matching umbrella-clutching tour groups following uninterested Han tour guides dressed in "traditional Naxi" costume shouting monotonously through tinny sounding megaphones, full of bars charging prices more akin to Beijing and Shanghai than Yunnan, and shops selling tat – it is like Disneyland and kind of betrays its UNESCO World Heritage status. Nonetheless we did find some fun there. Found a pretty cool bar away from the centre and spent a good night there with Lucas and some friends from Kunming that I'd bumped into. Having said all of that, it probably is still worth a visit for the surrounding villages and the Lijiang Comtemporary Artists Studio, which I didn't get a chance to visit but plan to do soon. Moreover, its on the way to some really beautiful places like Lashihai, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Haba Snow Mountain. I guess I'm being a little harsh, people want to make money and of course they should. Its just a shame the UNESCO status hasn't spurred on the local government to prevent it from becoming a theme park.


• We then hired a driver to take us to Lashihai (a lake surrounded by hills and villages), where we kind of rained in for most of it. We managed to sneak out for a couple of walks through the area and it really was beautiful – would like to go back when its not raining. Unfortunately we were in a guesthouse with the dirtiest rooms I've seen in China (and that is saying something), not a particularly pleasant place to be when its pissing down outside.
  
  
• From Lashihai we were picked up by Gu Laoshi (a friend of Christina's) and a driver who took us on a rollercoaster ride through Tiger Leaping Gorge. This was quite a treachurous journey with bad roads and a fair few mudslides. At times it felt like this could well have been the end but we had a fantastic driver who took it all in his stride. On route we stopped off at a cafe/guesthouse that had "Happy Tea" on the menu. Dad wanted to try it but Lucas and I convinced him not to. I'm not sure we could have coped with seeing our father that "happy". 


• Finally we arrived at Haba Snow Mountain. This was certainly the highlight of the trip round Yunnan. I won't begin to describe how beautiful a place it is – just have a look at my photos. We stayed at a guesthouse run by friends of Christina (Gu Laoshi and Asanmei), in a small Hui Minority village. For those of you who don't know the Hui are visually indestiguishable from the Han but follow Islam. Gu Laoshi is a Tibetan Buddhist while his wife is a muslim and their small boy Hao Jie has been given a Jewish name (Ruben) by one of the American students that was staying there; a fine example of multiculturalism if ever I saw one. The guesthouse (Hui Hui Jia – Hui Family Guesthouse) is a traditional courtyard home and a wonderful place to stay with an incredibly friendly family atmosphere. Christina was staying there too with the American students she was leading and it was great to see her in action – she's a fantastic teacher and guide.
  


• From Haba we went to Zhongdian (which has been given the name Shangrila by the Chinese Government). We stayed in a fantastic, but expensive, hotel there which was probably the best thing about our time in Shangrila. The new town is nothing to write about and the old town (while certainly pretty) seems like its heading the way of Lijiang. However we did spend quite a lot of time there trying desperately to find a way to get down to Xishuangbanna and didn't really get to see much of the place. I'm certainly willing to give it another try and would definately like to go further north.
  


• We ony had a few days before mum and dad had to be back in Kunming in order to fly to Shanghai and then home, and we wanted to have a quick look at Xishuangbanna, 'the Thailand of China'. We managed to get a bus to Lijiang and then flew to Jinhong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna region. In Jinhong we hired a guide, who turned out to be a bit crap (and rather creepy – might explain later), and spent a couple of days driving through the countryside and walking through various minority villages. From there Mum and Dad flew back to Kunming and then to Shanghai, while Lucas and I took a bus from Mengla in Xishuangbanna to Luang Probang in Laos.
  


• Luang Probang is such a beautiful little town. Apart from a day of kayaking we pretty much just chilled out there before going to Vang Vieng for some tubing down the river in tractor tyre inner tubes and some more chilling. Finally we went to Vientiane for one night, had one of the best French meals I've ever had, before flying back to Kunming. With only just over a week in Laos we really didn't do it justice but I got a very good impression. So peaceful, beautiful, and chilled out – a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of China


• Finally, I spent a few more days in Kunming hanging out with Lucas before he had to fly home.