Chen Pokong

Chen Pokong Chinese: 陳破空
Born	Santai, Sichuan, China
Other names	Chen Jinsong (birth name)
Education	Hunan University, Sun Yat-set University, Tongji University, Columbia University
Occupation(s)	Author, commentator
Known for	Chinese political and current affairs commentary

Chen Pokong (born December 1963) is a Chinese author and political commentator living in the United States. Born in Sichuan Province, China, Chen came to the United States in 1996 after spending years in prison and forced labor for writings supporting democracy and political reform in China, which the authorities described as "counter-revolutionary propaganda." In the U.S., he regularly appears as an analyst on Chinese current affair programs, including Voice of America, New Tang Dynasty Television, Radio Free Asia, and others. In 2007 Chen was awarded the "Prominent News and Culture Award."

Biography

Chen Pokong was a teacher of economics at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, when the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations began in China. He joined the protests and was arrested in 1989.

Prison time

Chen Pokong was sent to prison or forced labor on two occasions:

• In August of 1989 he was arrested for his involvement in democracy activities, and charged in February 1990 with "carrying out counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." On March 1, 1991, he was sentenced to three years in prison by the Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court.
• In October of 1993 Chen was sentenced to re-education through forced labor for three years under the charges of "illegally crossing state borders," a sentence that was carried out without a trial, as is custom with the re-education through forced labor system in China.

Chen had resumed political activities after his release from prison in July 1992, and was wanted by the government by 1993. He fled to Hong Kong and applied for political asylum, but was rejected. After being repatriated he was sent to forced labor.

In a letter to the international community in 1994, Chen alleged that prisoners in the Guangzhou No. 1 Reeducation-Through-Labor-Center were often beaten and "subjected to conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." Chen had the letter was smuggled out of the camp in the latter half of 1994, when it was reported on by international human rights groups. He said that production quotas force prisoners to work over 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, with only 3 days of holiday per year. Heavy labor is done during the daytime, including transporting and loading stones from a quarry to a boat. At night, prisoners were forced to make artificial flowers for export, according to Chen's letter. The food supplied by camp authorities was often insufficient and consisted of "coarse rice and rotten vegetables," according to Amnesty International.

Part of Chen's letter said: "Inmates who labour slightly slower are brutally beaten and misused by supervisors and team leaders (themselves inmates). Inmates are often beaten until they are blood-stained all over, collapse or lose consciousness (shortly before I was sent here, one inmate was beaten to death.)... Many inmates, including myself, their hands and feet squashed by big stones, stained with blood and pus, have to labour as usual. As a consequence, many inmates were crippled for life." In his letter, he said the Guangdong No. 1 Reform Through Labor, Quarry 1, Company 9 in Chini Town, Hua County, Guangdong was the "most vicious," and that he was sent there so the Guangdong authorities could "vent their bitter hatred on me."

See also

Chinese democracy movement List of Chinese dissidents