BEIJING // Stuck in a Bangkok jail with a deportation order against her, Chen Guiqiu waited with dread over what seemed certain to come next.
A Thai immigration official showed her surveillance video of the jail entrance, where more than a dozen Chinese security agents were waiting.
Within minutes, Ms Chen feared, she and her two daughters would be escorted back to China, where her husband, prominent rights lawyer Xie Yang, was held on a charge of inciting subversion – and where punishment for attempting to flee surely awaited her.
After weeks on the run, Ms Chen was exhausted. A Christian, she prayed: “Don’t desert us now, not like this.”
Help arrived from America.
US embassy officials reached the jail and whisked Ms Chen and her daughters away. The Chinese agents outside soon realised what had happened and pursued them, finally meeting in a standoff at the Bangkok airport where Chinese, Thai and US officials heatedly argued over custody of the family.
The family finally made it to the US on March 17.
Their ordeal began on July 9, 2015, when the Chinese government launched a nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers. Ms Chen’s husband, Xie, was among dozens detained and later charged with crimes against the state.
After releasing her husband’s account of being beaten, deprived of sleep and tortured in January, police summoned Ms Chen for hours-long meetings where they threatened to evict her, deny her children schooling and have her fired from her job as a university professor.
Ms Chen contacted Bob Fu, a Christian rights activist based in Texas who has helped several high-profile dissidents flee China.
With her two daughters, she headed south from their home in central China on February 19, then crossed into at least two countries without paperwork. After five days of travel, they arrived at a safe house in Bangkok. Somehow, Chinese authorities still learned that she might be in Thailand. On March 2, Thai police barged into the safe house and sent the family to detention. The next morning, an immigration judge ordered Ms Chen deported.
In Texas, Mr Fu alerted the state department and his associates in Thailand, who quickly located her on March 3 and even convinced Thai officials to let them whisk her out the back.
Ms Chen was stopped at the airport by Thai immigration officials. A confrontation between the Chinese, American and Thai officials nearly boiled over into a physical clash, said one person with knowledge of the operation. Ms Chen and Mr Fu declined to explain what happened next, citing diplomatic sensitivities.
Now safe in Texas, Ms Chen said she wanted to thank the state department and the Trump administration. But her sense of relief has been tempered by pain.
On Monday, her husband pleaded guilty to charges of incitement to subversion and disturbing legal proceedings and asked the court to grant him a lenient sentence based on his repentance.
“Everyone should take me as a lesson: You must behave within the boundaries of the law, avoid being used by anti-China western forces,” Xie said in a prepared statement read to the court.
His wife called the trial a sham.
“Your play was performed beautifully,” said Ms Chen. “All the people who participated in Xie Yang’s trial: history will remember all of you!”
* Associated Press
Company%20profile
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How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final
Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
UAE%20ILT20
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