Chinese Dissident Arrives in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The activist Chen Guangcheng, who fled house arrest in China and later moved to the United States, arrived Sunday in Taiwan, where he is to give several speeches expected to attract the attention of Beijing.

Mr. Chen told reporters at Taipei’s airport that he was impressed with Taiwan’s democracy and its concern for the human rights situation in China. “Your support has been very important to us,” he said.

The 18-day trip is part of Mr. Chen’s efforts to enhance freedoms and human rights for his fellow Chinese, the organizer, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, said in a statement.

Mr. Chen set off a diplomatic crisis between China and the United States last year when he fled to the United States Embassy in Beijing from house arrest. He was allowed to leave China for the United States, where he has been a special student at New York University’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute while working on a book scheduled to be published this year. Last week he suggested that the university was forcing him to leave because of pressure from China, an accusation the university denied.

Mr. Chen’s Taiwan visit offers a challenge to President Ma Ying-jeou, who has built his administration around better relations with China, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and resents any Taiwanese activity that embarrasses Beijing.

Mr. Chen will hold a news conference, address the island’s legislature, meet Speaker Wang Jin-pyng and speak at universities, organizers said.

Mr. Chen had originally angered local Chinese officials by documenting complaints about forced abortions. A self-taught lawyer, he has criticized China’s human rights record, speaking about it before a Congressional committee.

(2013-06-24/nytimes)