A Chinese man was severely beaten after criticising, in an interview with German television, the way Chinese authorities dealt with people displaced by the Three Gorges dam, the television station said on Tuesday. German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Berlin was concerned about the report and had asked the German embassy in Beijing to demand an explanation from the Chinese authorities.
Fu Xian Cai, who lives in China's central Hubei province, was interviewed by ARD journalists on May 19 about the difficulties locals faced because of the construction of the dam.
He described his struggle to obtain compensation promised to those who had to leave their homes to make way for the dam, said Jobst Plog, the head of NDR broadcaster which oversees the ARD office in Beijing.
Fu told reporters: "I have gone to Beijing 15 times to complain to the government, and I have complained to the local and regional authorities 50 times. They have never helped me. On the contrary, I have been threatened and beaten."
Plog said the ARD bureau learnt last week that after the interview Fu had been so severely beaten by a group of unknown people that his spine snapped and he is now paralysed.
In an open letter to the Chinese ambassador in Berlin, Plog asked him to help put a stop to such incidents.
"I ask you to use your influence to ensure that the Chinese people no longer have to fear for their lives or their health simply because they dare to express their opinions on television," he wrote.
The Three Gorges dam, which was officially completed in May, has led to the relocation of more than a million people.
