Excerpted from “Chen Guangcheng and U.S.-China Relations” on NPR's On Point:

HRIC Executive Director Sharon Hom: The U.S. and China have obligations that are international. In other words, for the last sixty or more years, human rights issues have not been domestic issues. In Chen Guangcheng’s case, a little known fact is that, back in November 2006, when he was first picked up and subsequently served a four years and three months prison sentence, an independent UN body of experts – which China participated in – rendered a decision that said that his detention violated international norms. The whole nineteen months that he has been under “house arrest” is in complete violation of Chinese law as well as international law. So for the U.S. to stay out of [Chen’s case] would not only be incredibly irresponsible to its own obligations, but also have an impact on the U.S.’s interests.

This episode is available to listen online in full at On Point radio.