Andy Jacobsohn
Dissident Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who recently arrived in the U.S. for a fellowship at New York University, issued a stern challenge to his home nation in Wednesday’s New York Times op-ed section. Chen wrote of a growing need for fair laws to be instituted across China’s legal system, citing his own case as his prime example. He writes, “China does not lack laws, but the rule of law.” Chen claims that he was put into illegal confinement and then forced through a farcical trial where he was provided no defense attorney. “The issue of lawlessness may be the greatest challenge facing the new leaders” of China, Chen claims. “The fundamental question the Chinese government must face is lawlessness … those who handled my case were able to openly flout the nation’s laws in many ways for many years.”