Change in China ‘inevitable’, says blind activist Chen Guangcheng

Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng said on Tuesday that change in his country was “inevitable” but should be the work of the Chinese themselves rather than be imposed from the outside.

“China will undergo a transformation, this is inevitable and in fact this has already begun,” said Chen, a blind self-taught lawyer who dramatically escaped house arrest last year.

“We cannot wait for democracy, freedom and equality to come from the outside,” he told the Oslo Freedom Forum, an annual gathering of rights activists.

Chen, 41, achieved international prominence for his fight against the harsh measures used to enforce the one-child policy in his country.

Sentenced to four years in prison and placed under house arrest, he fled his village last year and took refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.

After protracted negotiations between China and the United States, he was finally allowed to leave for New York, where he has since lived with his family.