SAN FRANCISCO, CA (ANS) -- ChinaAid is reporting that at the annual American Bar Association conference, held in San Francisco on August 6, 2010, 17-year-old Grace (Ge Ge) smiled as she walked to the podium to accept the International Human Rights Lawyer of the Year Award on behalf of her missing father, Gao Zhisheng.

Gao Zhisheng’s 17-year-old daughter Grace (Ge Ge) accepted the International Human Rights Lawyer Award on his behalf at an event held in San Francisco on Friday, Aug. 6. (Photo: Huang Yiyan/The Epoch Times)

“I am so very proud of my father,” she said. “This is the first time that this award [has been] granted to a Chinese person. If my father knew that I accepted this award for him, he would be very happy.”

The President of ABA expressed warm regards toward Gao Zhisheng, praising him for his breadth and depth of work for human rights in the Chinese legal system. Ge Ge then shared her admiration for her father and his devotion to his work.

“Deep in my heart,” she said, “my father is the type of person I admire very much. He can get over any difficulties, and he is not afraid of anything. I feel that my father is an outstanding father.”

Though proud of her father's accomplishments, Ge Ge admitted, “I have been really worrying about my dad's situation.” Ge Ge and her family continue to dread the reality that Gao continues to be held hostage by the Chinese government and may never return home.
 

Gao Zhisheng

ChinaAid told the ASSIST News Service that it "refuses to back down in the call for freedom for Gao Zhisheng, and all other human rights defenders like him."

Reliable sources in China recently confirmed that Gao Zhisheng was severely tortured last year in Xinjiang, following his family's escape to the United States. After briefly resurfacing this March, Gao Zhisheng was able to talk to his family and visit his brother and father-in-law, before being kidnapped again by the authorities from Beijing. No one has seen or heard from him since April 20, 2010.

“Gao's continued forced disappearance is a blatant disregard of the basic human rights of the Chinese people,” says Pastor Bob Fu, who visited Gao’s family in June.

“If there is no regard for even a well-respected, human rights attorney's dignity, what stops the Chinese Government from exploiting the dignity of its citizens? We will not stop until Gao’s rights are restored, as a law-abiding citizen of China. We will not rest until Gao Zhisheng is allowed to be reunited unconditionally with his family in the U.S.”

A spokesperson for ChinaAid said, “Urge your friends and family to Sign the Petition and Donate today to help Free Gao Zhisheng! Visit http://www.freegao.com/index.html?refnum= to learn more.”

For more information on the work of ChinaAid, go to: www.chinaaid.org.

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available here