Christian Bale was left badly bruised yesterday after a violent incident outside the village of Dongshigu, in China's Shandong Province. Attempting to visit dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who is under unofficial house arrest, he was attacked by guards who punched him and subsequently pursued his vehicle for several miles.
The actor, currently starring as a priest who attempts to protect a group of women during the Rape of Nanjing in true story The Flowers Of War, told a CNN camera crew who captured the incident that he had wanted to thank Chen for providing him with inspiration. He challenged the legality of the lawyer's detention. Chen was released last year from a four year prison sentence after campaigning for the rights of a group of women some of whom alleged that they had been forcibly sterilised.
