Mr Lu was beaten when he took the Guardian’s Shanghai correspondent to Taishi, the focus of a campaign by locals and civil rights activists to unseat the village chief, who they have accused of corruption…
Mr Lu said yesterday that he knew it was dangerous, and that he was used to the violence and intimidation faced by grassroots democracy campaigners. He has been the victim of several beatings since becoming politically active three years ago…
“Benjamin insisted that he wanted to go so he could see the real situation in the village. He told me to stay behind. But I insisted I would go with him. I felt that if a foreigner was ready to help the village, then I as a Chinese should do the same.”
See also “Democracy efforts in China met with fists” from Knight-Ridder. More on this topic, via Google News. This topic in the blogosphere, via Technorati.
