A Chinese labor activist who won’t lie down

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/04/24/2003410086

Twenty years after the Tiananmen Square Massacre and still banned from China, Han Dongfang says that his activism has become more sophisticated and that his passion for workers’ rights is undiminished

By Guy Newey
AFP, HONG KONG
Thursday, Apr 24, 2008, Page 9

Robin Munro likes to tell a story about his close friend, fellow rights campaigner and veteran of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Han Dongfang (韓東方).

Han had been released after two years in prison, as part of the crackdown after the protests, which saw the enormous Beijing square filled for weeks with thousands of students and workers demanding reform in China.

Despite being weak from tuberculosis he contracted in jail — it led to the loss of a lung — Han took the authorities to court to reclaim his house after it was seized following the death of his mother.

“He went to court to sue them. That was pretty rare in those days. He got physically thrown out of the courthouse and was beaten up,” said Munro, who now works for the rights group Han founded, China Labour Bulletin (CLB).

“I remember thinking, ‘This guy is just not prepared to back down. This guy is headed for a huge prison sentence, but he has just got integrity and determination,’” Munro said.

Han became admired not just for his leading role in the protests that ended in a military assault and the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed civilians.

FULL story at link.