Blind Activist Leaves US Embassy in Beijing, to be Transferred to ‘Safe’ Location

Posted May 2nd, 2012 at 8:40 am (UTC-5)
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U.S. officials say a blind Chinese dissident who escaped house arrest and went to the U.S. embassy in Beijing has left the facility to seek medical care and be reunited with his family.

A U.S. official said Wednesday China's government has agreed to relocate Chen Guangcheng to a “safe” location in China. The official said Chen did not request political asylum in the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is pleased U.S. officials were able to facilitate Chen's stay and departure from the U.S. embassy “in a way that reflected his choices and our values.”

Clinton is in Beijing for two days of high-level security and economic talks that begin Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Chen's departure from the embassy. It said Chen had stayed at the facility for six days before leaving “of his own volition.”

China's foreign ministry demanded the United States apologize for taking in Chen, calling it an unacceptable interference in Chinese affairs. It also said the U.S. should give assurances no other dissidents will be given refuge.

An editorial in the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times said the Chen incident will not affect China-U.S. relations.

Some human rights groups and activists remain skeptical the situation has been fully resolved. Phelim Kine, a senior Asia researcher at U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, told VOA that Chen is likely to continue speaking against China's human rights violations.

“It's very much our hope that the U.S. has carefully thought through the very real threats to the safety and well-being of Chen Guangcheng and his family and his supporters in China and has negotiated a resolution that takes those considerations into account and ensures that he will indeed be safe once he is outside of U.S. diplomatic protection.”

Kine said he would be “very surprised” if China's agreement with the U.S. allowed for potential violations of Chen's safety. But he does not think China's handling of the issue represents a softening of its treatment of dissidents.

Chen is a lawyer and human rights activist who has been blind since childhood. He was given a four-year prison sentence in 2006 for exposing abuses under China's forced abortion policy aimed at population control. He had been under house arrest since 2010, before escaping on April 22.

He posted an Internet video last week saying he, his wife, and young daughter were abused during his house arrest. He also called on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to investigate human rights abuses in China.