“Can you use ‘truth’ in a sentence?” their English tutor asked at Monday’s session.
“One plus one equals two. This is a truth,” Yuan replied.
Chen Guangcheng adjusts to life in America
Syrian troops shell Damascus suburb (videos)
Plumes of smoke are seen over Darayya near Damascus as troops invade with tanks.
“We must . . . pursue . . . truth,” Chen chimed in.
“Very good! Now can you use ‘life’ in a sentence?”
“Life is a ungh-ae-lee-un-ah-boh right,” Chen answers a little more quickly.
“Life,” his wife said, then paused. “Life is the most precious thing.”
Through such interactions, their teachers have pieced together a vivid picture of the life the couple led in China, as well as of Chen’s extraordinary abilities to learn. Blinded as a child by fever in an impoverished village, he did not begin elementary school until the age of 17.
“That he knows all he knows about China and its laws is quite amazing,” said NYU law professor Jerome Cohen. “And he is already grasping eagerly for the American equivalent.”
Cohen — widely considered the foremost expert on Chinese law studies in the United States — has custom-tailored Chen’s legal curriculum. Under the supervision of Cohen and others at NYU, Chen will slowly make his way in the coming weeks from the Declaration of Independence toward constitutional law — a path he sees as fundamental to his objectives.
He is struck by the transition from a declaration of freedom to the birth of a civil society ruled by law, and how China might learn from America’s experience.
For now, Chen is often careful in how he describes China’s current problems. “Caution runs through everything we do,” he said.
Although he often avoids criticizing the Chinese government or its laws, he does fault authorities for not enforcing the law.
He reserves his most passionate criticism for officials overseeing the case of his nephew Chen Kegui, who has been charged with attempted murder after an incident in April in which he stabbed at plainclothes security guards. His defenders argue that he acted in self-defense after the guards broke into his home without warning and beat members of the family.
In his spare time, Chen has begun delicately delving again into the world of activism.
Although he has become most known for his work against forced abortions imposed on rural peasants under China’s one-child policy, he has largely stayed away from politically charged issues related to abortion in the United States. Instead, he said, he is focusing on campaigning for the rights of the disabled in New York.
“How a society treats its disabled is the true measure of a civilization,” he said.
Intending to go back
Chen said he hopes to be able to return to China after his studies. It is a theoretical possibility under the terms of his negotiated deal, but one that may depend partly on what he says and how far he goes in his activism while in the United States.
Barely a month into his stay, the prospect of going back to China looms large in his mind. It is why he studies so intently, despite daily frustration with his progress in English and law classes.
He said he believes that change is coming to China and that still-abstract concepts, such as “unalienable rights,” will become a reality. And when they do, he explained, he wants to be there, as a witness and a contributor.
“We are at a point now when anything is possible,” he said in Mandarin. Then, switching to English a little later to drive home the point, he said with a grin, “equal,” “liberty,” “self-evident.”
- Spam
- Obscene
- Duplicate
The Post Most: WorldMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
Our Correspondents on Twitter
Loading...
Comments