Hollywood actor Christian Bale was buffeted by Chinese security guards while trying to visit a blind legal activist whose arrest has been the subject of sentences within and outside the country, said Friday on CNN.
Bale, who plays superhero Batman fights crime, and the television crew from CNN were driven by men in civilian clothes in the town of Dongshigu, in eastern Shandong province, where the activist Chen Guangcheng has been under 15 months house arrest, according to a video released by CNN on its website.
"Why I can not visit this man?" Bale said security agents as he was pushed by them.
"You know, I'm not being brave doing this," Bale told CNN.
"The people here are facing the authorities and insisting on going to visit Chen and his family and it is being hit by (...) and arrested for it. I want to support what they are doing," he said.
The fate of Chen, a self-taught lawyer who has campaigned against forced abortions, has become a test of wills, which are facing repression of the Communist Party dissidents and activists championing their cause and the artist Ai Weiwei.
In recent months, been prevented from visiting dozens of supporters Chen. Many were beaten by men in civilian clothes.
CNN said Bale, who is in China for the premiere of his latest film, "The Flowers of War" contacted the news channel to try to meet with Chen. They did an eight hour drive from Beijing to Chen village.
"This is not natural for me," Bale told CNN. "But I can not look away."
Internet users went to the Weibo microblogging service, similar to Twitter, to applaud Bale visiting the "blind." The authorities have blocked searches for "Chen Guangcheng."
"Mr. Bale, I admire your courage and heart," said a user named "Chen Xiaoying wants to support."
"But next time you want to save a person, remember to wear your Batman costume. The Chinese official media will not report this, CNN is up to pass."
Chen angered authorities in Shandong in 2005 for revealing a program of forced abortions as part of China's one-child policy. It was formally released in September 2010 after four years in prison for a crime of "blocking traffic."
"What we really wanted to do is shake hands with the man and say, 'Thank you' and say that is a source of inspiration," Bale told CNN.
