Green Member of the European Parliament, Helga Trüpel, was prevented from visiting Zeng Jinyan, the wife of imprisoned Chinese dissident and European Parliament Sakharov Prize winner Hu Jia. Zeng Jinyan, a co-nominee with Hu Jia for last year’s Sakharov Prize, is herself under house arrest with their baby daughter.
 
Mrs Trüpel, who is visiting Beijing as a member of an official delegation, attempted to visit Zeng in her “Freedom City” apartment complex. But half a dozen plainclothes police blocked the entrance. Foreign journalists present on the scene were also barred.
 
“The human rights situation in China has not improved despite the promises made before the Olympic Games. The Chinese authorities have been hostile and threatening in talks with the European Parliament delegation, due to the award of its Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to Hu Jia. The question of human rights has strained relations between China and the EU more than ever before,” Mrs Trüpel said.
 
“The denial of my visit to Zeng Jinyan today shows that even the most basic human rights are not observed in China. It also vindicates the award of the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia. We refuse to give up hope that one day human rights will be fully respected in China,” she continued.
 
Zeng Jinyan is a prominent Chinese cyberdissident and has been actively defending human rights through her blog. Her husband, Hu Jia, fights for rights of HIV/AIDS patients and environmental issues. Her was particularly active in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games and published articles demanding human rights rather than Olympics. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison last April.