Chinese Activist Said Paralyzed by Assault

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | The New York Times
June 14, 2006

BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese activist was struck by an assailant and left paralyzed after meeting with police to discuss an interview he gave on German television, a human rights group and a German broadcaster said Tuesday.

The attack on Fu Xiancai, a critic of the government's treatment of people displaced by the Three Gorges dam project, highlighted the risks Chinese rights campaigners face.

In recent years, activists have increasingly complained about attacks by thugs who they and rights groups have sometimes charged were acting on orders from authorities.

In an interview aired by German TV network ARD on May 19, Fu said he had been threatened and beaten for complaining to the government about not getting compensation he was promised for relocating, according to a letter from a German broadcaster, Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

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