Christian Bale blocked from visiting Chinese campaigner

The Chinese authorities got in the way of Christian Bale’s attempt to visit a Chinese activist this week

Reuters reports that the Batman star was roughed up by Chinese security guards as he tried to visit Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights lawyer.

Chen has been under house arrest since alleging that women were being forced to undergo abortions under China’s strict one-child policy.

Bale was accompanied by a CNN television crew on his visit to the activist in the village of Dongshigu, Shandong province.

CNN footage shows a confrontation between Bale and unidentified men who order him to leave before trying to take a small video camera out his hand.

Bale is in China to promote his latest movie, The Flowers of War, about the 1937 massacre of Chinese at Nanjing by Japanese troops.

Reuters reported that Bale was pushed by security officers as he asked: “Why can I not visit this man?”

He told CNN: “You know, I’m not being brave doing this. The local people who are standing up to the authorities and insisting on going to visit Chen and his family and getting beaten up for it, and my understanding getting detained for it and everything. I want to support what they are doing.”