A Chinese land rights activist, paralyzed in an assault shortly after being interrogated by police about critical remarks he made on German TV, said the German government will pay for his coming surgery.
Fu Xiancai (
Fu, paralyzed from the neck down, said he was in pain and his voice sounded slurred and labored.
His son, Fu Bing, 23, helped interpret part of the conversation because he had so much trouble speaking.
Within three days he will have surgery that might enable him to use a wheelchair, Fu said.
Doctors say he will not walk again, he said.
Fu Bing said police have been stationed outside his father's room since he was hospitalized.
They told him they are there to protect his father from "people who want to hurt him," he said.
Since 1997, Fu Xiancai has been urging the local and central governments to better compensate people forced to relocate to make way for the giant Three Gorges dam project, his son said.
His attack highlights the risks Chinese rights activists face.
In an interview aired by German TV network ARD on May 19, Fu said he had often been threatened and beaten for complaining about land compensation.
Three weeks later, on June 8, he was called in by Police Chief Wang Qiankui in his home county of Zigui, he said. Fu said that during a half-hour meeting, Wang criticized him for being interviewed by German television.
While walking home after the meeting, Fu was struck from behind, breaking his neck and leaving him paralyzed, he said.
He said did not see the assailants.
Meanwhile, More than 100 Chinese intellectuals and dissidents have signed a letter urging the release of a blind activist detained for protesting against coercive population policies, a rights group said yesterday.
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