US grants asylum to son of Chinese 709 rights lawyer
- Bao Zhuoxuan allowed to remain in the United States, two years after he landed in the country
- Bao’s mother, Wang Yu, was arrested in a sweeping crackdown on activists seven years ago
The son of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer has been granted asylum by a court in the United States, after surviving years of political persecution as a minor by association with his activist parents in China.
Friday’s ruling by an immigration judge in Los Angeles grants 22-year-old Bao Zhuoxuan the right to work, study and remain in the US without fear of repatriation – after two years of living without a passport, identification papers, driving permit or bank account.
“I’m the luckiest of them all because of my parents’ relentless negotiation for my freedom,” Bao, who has not seen his parents for four years, told the South China Morning Post the night before his hearing.
Bao’s mother, Wang Yu, a leading human rights lawyer in China, was among the first people arrested in a nationwide crackdown seven years ago against a progressive rights defence movement led by lawyers like her. It came to be known as the “709 crackdown”, after the date of the first arrests – July 9, 2015.