Chen Guangcheng called an oblivious 'chess piece' in China-US relations
As soon as the US realises co-operation with China is what prevails, Chen would be “consumed in a one-off manner” and abandoned as a “cumbersome asset”, the Global Times said in an editorial.
American politics seems to have taken advantage of blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng and he doesn’t even realise it, a top Chinese nationalist newspaper said on Thursday, calling him a mere “chess piece” in the great game of Sino-American diplomacy.
The piece said Chen’s blindness was no more than a “perk” that entitled him to special favours and sympathy. Like many Chinese pro-democratic activists in the 1980s, Chen would be "mistakenly flattered" if he thought he was “treasure” for Washington, it said.
“Chen's understanding of both China and the US stems from his own experiences and feelings, which gives him an incomplete image of Sino-US relations,” the commentary said. “In fact, as one of the chess pieces used in the US' China policy, he, like the other [activists], is not given as much value as he expected. Chen was never going to be the 'exception'.”
As soon as the US realises co-operation with China is what prevails, Chen would be “consumed in a one-off manner” and abandoned as a “cumbersome asset”, the editorial added.
Chen released a statement this week accusing New York University, which hosted him for the past year, of ending his fellowship under political pressure from the Chinese government.
