Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest in China.

Human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped house arrest in China. This is a major international news story but you'll only hear/read about it if you ignore the navel gazing incestuous Irish media. As Reggie Littlejohn, the primary advocate for Chen, was speaking in Ireland plans were already afoot for him to escape captivity.

The photo of Chen is taken from the Daily Telegraph story on his escape.

Some comments from the Pro Life Campaign on Reggie Littlejohn's visit to Ireland and Chen's escape. 

Human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest in China

 

1st May 2012

Last Tuesday Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers and internationally recognised expert on China's One Child Policy was in Ireland highlighting human rights abuses against women in China and the plight of blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, a campaigner against forced abortion and other abuses that arise from the Chinese One Child Policy.
Ms Littlejohn briefed members of the Oireachtas and addressed a public meeting hosted by the Pro Life Campaign in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin.
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers is a non-partisan, international coalition to oppose forced abortion, sterilisation and human trafficking in China and Ms. Littlejohn is an internationally recognised expert on China’s One Child Policy and the problems it has caused.
The One Child Policy in implemented through, moral, financial and sometimes physical abuse with cases of heavily women being held down as their baby was aborted. This policy combined with a cultural preference for boys over girls has led to what’s become known as “gendercide,” the deliberate targeting of baby girls for abortion or even infanticide. It is estimated that over 100 Million baby girls have been aborted in China alone for the simple reason that they were girls. This has led to a skewed sex ratio in China where there are 113 boys born for every 100 girls. The ratio in Ireland of 106 boys to 100 girls is the figure demographers consider normal.

Reggie Littlejohn and supporters of Stop Gendercide Now outside the Chinese Embassy in Dublin on 25th April

 Ms. Littlejohn has highlighted for some years the case of Chinese lawyer and human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng who was put under house arrest in 2005 as punishment for campaigning against the human rights abuses endured by Chinese women as a result of the One Child Policy. Even though he was officially released from prison he was kept in detention and denied treatment despite suffering a serious illness.

On Wednesday Ms. Littlejohn (who has been denied entry into China because of her advocacy for Chen and the women he has represented) led an awareness event for Chen’s case outside the Chinese Embassy in Dublin. Chen, who’s been blind from an early age, wears sunglasses all the time and as part of the campaign to highlight his case Ms. Littlejohn and other activists donned sunglasses in solidarity.
On Friday, it was announced that Cheng has escaped captivity and he is reported as being in hiding in the United States Embassy in Beijing. This news was an international sensation. While Reggie Littlejohn has welcomed the news of his escape she has also highlighted the fact that he is not yet out of danger and that he, his family, including his wife and daughter (who are still under observation in the family home), remain in danger. She has also called on the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who is visiting China from Beijing to raise his case.
For more information on Reggie and her work and to sign a petition calling on the Chinese government to release Chen Guangcheng, visit Women’s Rights Without Frontiers website.

Great to see RTÉ reporting on Reggie Littlejohn's visit to Ireland.

Well no actually, not a mention, not a peep. Nothing in the print media either.

It seemed pretty obvious a couple of months past when the Chinese Premier was visiting Ireland for a couple of days that we were courting him and his country. The level of obsequiousness in the voice and actions of our Minister for Foreign affairs was at a level never seen before. You see China is going to invest in us and help us out of the economic mess that we're in. China's economic success (doubtful, possible the mother of all bubble economies) is in stark contrast to Ireland's decline. You see the major reason why China is so successful is that her people save a high percentage of their earnings, the major reason why Ireland failed is because people spent so much of theirs. Mara Hvistendahl believes that one reason why the Chinese save so much money is because since there is such a shortage of women due to genercide men have to save up to "buy" brides, this is, I believe, a good segue to talking about Reggie Littlejohn and her talk at The Gresham last night. I posted a video below which outlines her work so I won't go into that in depth, instead I'd just encourage you to look at her. I'm more concerned about why a major human rights figure was ignored by the Irish media. I have not noticed any coverage of her visit in the Irish print or broadcast media. No figures from the section of society who have made 'uman rights a career bothered to turn up to her public talk. Not one. We have turned this kind of work into a minor industry but not one person bothered to come hear her. Why is that I wonder? The word hypocrite is often misused, people apply it to people who say one thing and then (often in a moment of weakness) do something contrary. Properly it is applied to a person who says one thing and believes another. In other words it is a deliberate, calculated deception.
The dirty truth is that certain organizations in Ireland will never acknowledge Reggie Littlejohn because she campaigns on behalf of women who have been forced to undergo abortions in China. The people who should be highlighting this in Ireland and raising further outrage in our media fear speaking about this issue because they fear the wrath of pro-abortion opinion makers. Is it that or are they themselves so pro-abortion that they cannot see the true horror of China's forced abortions?
Anyway, enough of the disgust with Irish print and broadcast media and their hangers on. They are in crisis. Print media has suffered a 20% decline in sales over the last 5 years and is not about to win that back. The hollowness of RTÉ abilities was revealed by the way they treated Fr. Kevin Reynolds, it was further exposed by the way they dealt with the presidential election last year. The TV License, AKA the "telly tax" isn't working for them, people are refusing to pay it for a variety of reasons, they don't have the money, they object to being insulted and patronized or they no longer watch RTÉ and if they do they watch online.
I intend to write some more and maybe even document some of the biased treatment of the abortion issue at a later date. I'm far more concerned about the bias in RTÉ because it reaches more people and as a license payer I have to pay for their bias.

Reggie Littlejohn to speak tomorrow at the Gresham. 

Reggie Littlejohn of www.Womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org will be speaking about her work on Tuesday, 24th April at 7pm in the O' Casey Room, Gresham Hotel, O' Connell Street, Dublin 1. Places are limited so if you would like to attend, please email mail@prolifecampaign.ie or telephone 086 2195317 with your details.

Over several years, she has testified before the US Congressional Human Rights Commission, briefed the White House, the European Parliament, the British Parliament and others on this issue.   As a lawyer she has represented Chinese refugees in political asylum cases in the United States. The meeting is hosted by the Pro Life Campaign.

Reggie Littlejohn speaking in Ireland.

Reggie littlejohn of www.Womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org will be in Ireland next week!