 Chen became a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Human Rights at the Witherspoon Institute, as well as a Visiting Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America  and a Senior Distinguished Advisor to the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice.On 16 October 2013, Chen made his first public appearance in his role as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute.He delivered a public lecture at Princeton University entitled "China and the World in the 21st Century