Chen Guangcheng landed safely at Newark Airport today (Saturday, May 19) at approximately 6:20pm.

"It's the most exciting day of my life," said Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women's Rights Without Frontiers—an organization that, like Chen, works to stop forced abortions.

Littlejohn and US Congressman Chris Smith were originally slated to meet with Chen immediately after he landed at around 6:20pm this evening. But instead, she says, the State Department took him directly from the plane into a vehicle and whisked him away.

A crowd had gathered at Newark Airport to give him a hero's welcome, but were not able to catch even a glimpse of the blind activist.

Chen later spoke briefly at a rally at New York University in Manhattan, arranged by law professor Jerome Cohen.

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In his speech, Chen thanked the media and supporters in the US and China. He said that the US government had given him a great amount of assistance, mentioning that they had given him “partial citizenship rights.”

Chen also emphasized that the Chinese central government should guarantee his rights as a Chinese citizen and his personal freedom and safety, even though he had left the country. He also asked everyone to watch to make sure that this promise was carried out.

He closed with asking everyone to work with him to promote justice and fairness in China. Chen’s full speech at New York University is above.

Following is a full transcript* of Chen Guangcheng's speech:

I feel everyone is very passionate. I will say a few simple words to everyone here.

After much turbulence, I finally walked out from Dongshigu Village in Shandong province. This required the help of many friends.

During the most critical time, the U.S. Embassy in China provided me with a safe haven, and a chance to get out of a risky period. The US government also gave me a lot of assistance, so that in the past 20-plus day I was able to have some of my citizenship rights.

I am very grateful to the US government and Embassy for their assistance, and I also hope that I can continue to get this assistance. Also, this agreement between China and the United States, as well as the Chinese central government’s promise of my citizenship rights, freedom and safety should not end just because I have left China. These should be long-term with no expiration date, so I hope everyone can continuously supervise the fulfillment of this promise.

During this time, there of course have been many other friends as well as Embassies of many countries including Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom and the European Union who have phoned me to lend support, and I am also very grateful for this.

With regards to the Chinese government’s handling of this matter, I am very happy to see their restraint and calmness. I hope the central government will continue to liberate people's minds, push for political reform, and protect social justice to gain more trust of the people.

As with others friends and the media who have offered me support over a long period of time, as well as Chinese netizens who tried to visit me in Dongshigu Village, Linyi City of Shandong province, and endured beatings, I really thank them from the depth of my heart. I am also aware of the support from ordinary U.S. citizens, and I really thank them.

We see that the retaliation against my family in Shandong continues. My nephew’s right to a lawyer is not protected. Luckily, the central government promised me, on more than one occasion, that they will thoroughly investigate the illegal acts of Shandong authorities. I hope everyone can supervise this investigation.

I trust in the promise given to me by the central government, it will not deceive me.

I think that I really want to tell everyone that regardless of what situation we’re in, no matter how trying it is, as long as we want to achieve something, and think of ways to do it, then it can be done. I don’t see anything as impossible, as long as we persist. It’s like how one Chinese saying goes, that there are no difficult tasks in the world, only people who do not have the heart for it.

So I feel we should put our hands together and put our efforts towards achieving justice in society, for all the compassion in society, and stop all injustices in society. I think ordinary citizens should shoulder this responsibility to society. The world’s leaders should have this mindset to gather the world’s strength to get rid of the world’s evil.

In seven years, I’ve not had a weekend’s rest. Now that I’m here, I hope to recuperate for what I haven’t been able to in the past seven years, both in body and spirit. I hope everyone can work with me and push for fairness and justice in China.

Thank you, Thank you. 
 

*This transcript of Chen Guangcheng's speech is a more direct translation of his words than those provided through the interpretor, which may have been subject to error given the live nature of the event.

US Congressman Chris Smith and Women's Rights Without Frontiers President Reggie Littlejohn will privately meet with Chen Guangcheng after he gets off the plane. The US State Department is planning on having Chen not go through the airport terminal.

There are plans for a rally tonight (Saturday) at 7:45pm which Chen may speak at or at attend. It will be held at Washington Square Village at NYU (near Bleecker St and Mercer St) on the east roadway between buildings #2 and #4.

The Intermediate People’s Court in Xiamen delivered the judgment on Friday, following a trial last month. Lai was found guilty of smuggling 4.3-million US dollars worth of goods with his Xiamen based Yuanhua Group and other networks. He dealt in goods ranging from textiles, cigarettes to cars and oil.

On top of the life sentence, the Xiamen court also handed Lai a second prison term of 15 years for bribery. He was found guilty of bribing 64 government officials with cash, cars and real estate worth more than 5-billion dollars. 

State-run Xinihua news agency cited documents which said, “The sums involved are unusually large, and the details are extraordinarily serious, meriting the double sentence." 

53-year-old Lai was extradited back to the southeast city of Xiamen in July last year. The well-connected businessman had escaped to Canada in 1999 and ultimately failed to obtain refugee protection. 

Lai’s crimes turned into one of the most high profile cases in modern China, and implicate several senior Chinese Communist officials, including former regime leader Jiang Zemin.