Web anger over Chen Guangcheng's exit from US embassy

2 May 2012

Chen with his son and wife — Image caption,
Chen is expected to be reunited with his wife and children

By Qiang Zhang

BBC Monitoring

Chinese internet users have expressed anger, confusion and concern over Chen Guangcheng's fate after state media reported he had left the US embassy in Beijing.

Many have voiced anger at China's demand for an apology over the episode from the US.

Without giving any details on Chen except that he was "a native of Yinan County in Shandong Province", Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said he "entered the US embassy in Beijing in late April and left of his own volition after a six-day stay at the embassy", without giving any reason why he did that.

The news attracted immense attention from internet users. Despite heavy censorship on Chen's case in recent days, a large number of comments have been posted on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging platform.

For many Chinese, this is the first time they have ever heard of Chen Guangcheng.

"What does this person do? How did he get into the embassy?" one confused microblogger asked.

For those who do know about Chen, the news is a cause for concern.

"Why did he leave? The Yankees are unreliable," said a Weibo user.

"Hope he and his family can go to America and live in peace," said another.

Others are confident that the US will protect Chen and his family and have proposed setting up more US missions in China to protect Chinese citizens.

A protester with a banner supporting blind rights activist Chen

There have been protests supporting Chen, however this is the first time many have heard of him

"As the Americans can provide free medical care and guarantee personal safety, I strongly propose that the USA establish a consulate in every Chinese county," said microblogger "Middle School Girl".

A few nationalist voices supported the Chinese Foreign Ministry's demand that the US apologise for "interfering with China's internal affairs".

"The US has never paused its attempt to contain China and destabilise China!" said one Weibo user.

But many more microbloggers - such as Li Kaisheng, a professor at Xiangtan University in Hunan are unimpressed.

"This is shamelessness on an unprecedented level," he wrote.

"When a blind man has been subjected to long-term illegal detention and has had to turn to a foreign embassy for protection, our foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin turns a blind eye to the facts and asserts that 'China is a country under the rule of law, and its citizens' legitimate rights and interests are protected by the constitution and its laws'."

Other contributors were equally scathing.

"They always blame other countries for interfering with China's internal affairs. But why don't they ever consider why the people have lost confidence in China's own judiciary and would rather trust a foreign embassy?! Weibo user "Milktea" asked.

Some responses were noticeably cynical in their tone.

"The US should not interfere with the CCP's [Chinese Communist Party] tyranny," A microblogger who calls himself "Expecting Dawn" wrote.

"This is the CCP's turf. All people living here are slaves to the CCP and must unconditionally accept the CCP's violent rule."