Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

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Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:22 pm

I've been wanting to post about Chen for some time here since I met him briefly several years ago.

DrudgeReport.com right now ... saw the good news just after checking email this morning.

Challenge for U.S. After Escape by China Activist
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/world ... china.html

Image


China's Forced Sterilization Tyranny Hits Home

Chinese activist fighting forced sterilisations beaten
Date: 10-06-05 09:38

A few days ago I saw the typical headlines from China, “Chinese abortion activist beaten”. Sensing nothing new I failed to read the news articles. This morning I was informed that the person in question is a blind doctor whom I met through my day job a year or so ago. Reading the articles now (and knowing the horrors* that await political dissidents there and our own govt’s disinfo about such horrors as “urban legends”**) makes me want to despair, but instead I am enraged.

– Miles

http://elfis.blogspot.com/2005/10/china ... ranny.html



Friday, October 07, 2005
More News Links on Chen Guangcheng
http://elfis.blogspot.com/2005/10/more- ... cheng.html


Chen Guangcheng
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World

While I was out of town recently, I read in a Google News Alert that Chen Guangcheng was selected as one of TIME Magazine’s “100 most influential people in the world” list. Of course Chen is listed among “Heroes & Icons” with such familiar names as Wynton Marsalis, Angelina Jolie, Bill Clinton / George H.W. Bush, Ralph Lauren, Paul Simon, Al Gore, Katie Couric and many others.

...

http://www.elfis.net/blog/2006/05/17/chen-guangcheng/

Last edited by elfismiles on Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby 8bitagent » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:27 pm

When I hear of US and China waging proxy battles in Africa down the road, I cant help but think of two globalist bullies having at it. I have no love for the Chinese government nor the American government.
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:30 pm


Chen Guangcheng Updates
http://www.elfis.net/blog/2006/08/23/ch ... g-updates/

Washington Post – Chinese Rights Activist Stands Trial After Police Detain Defense …
Washington Post, United States - Aug 18, 2006
Chen Guangcheng,
34, appeared pale and thin when he showed up at a county courthouse in
eastern Shandong province wearing a black T-shirt, gray pants and




Updates on the Plight of Chen Guangcheng in China

Chen Guangcheng

Chinese Dissident Blogger Stands Trial for Subversion
Wall Street Journal - Mar 18, 2008
… of the current system,” said Li, who himself was detained in 2006 in connection with his representation of Chen Guangcheng, a peasants right activist. …
Wall Street Journal

http://www.elfis.net/blog/2008/04/11/up ... -in-china/




Speaker Pelosi on Tiananmen Square and Chen Guangcheng

Chen Guangcheng, a self-trained legal advocate who tried in June 2005 to investigate reports that officials in Linyi city, Shandong province, had subjected thousands of people to forced abortions, beatings, and compulsory sterilization in order to meet population control targets. Although central government officials agreed that the officials used illegal means, authorities rejected the class-action lawsuit Chen tried to file. Chen was tried on August 24, 2006, and sentenced to four years and three months for “intentional destruction of property” and “gathering people to disturb traffic order.” Chen, who is blind, has reportedly been severely beaten in jail and has gone on a hunger strike to protest the beatings. He is serving his sentence in Linyi Prison.

http://www.elfis.net/blog/2009/06/08/sp ... uangcheng/

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:34 pm

Updates from January 2011...


A Chinese Advocate Is Freed, but Stays Under Surveillance

By MICHAEL WINES

Published: September 9, 2010

BEIJING — A blind, self-taught lawyer imprisoned by the Chinese authorities in 2006 after years of exposing government abuses was freed Thursday and confined to his home in Shandong Province, surrounded by guards and watched through closed-circuit surveillance cameras.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/world ... china.html



… AND …

Another rights advocate who exposed coerced sterilizations, Chen Guangcheng, has been confined since September to his home in rural Shandong Province with his family despite having served more than four years on a conviction for damaging property.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/world ... china.html



… AND …

China converts entire village into prison to contain pro-life activist

DONGSHIGU, China, December 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Chinese authorities have converted an entire village into a prison in order to prevent Chen Guangcheng, a blind, pro-life dissident, from moving freely about the country, according to a recent report by the French magazine Liberation.

“The picturesque hamlet, situated close to a national highway, might resemble thousands of others in that part of the northeast of China. No one, however, is authorized to enter Dongshigu, nor to communicate with its inhabitants,” writes Liberation’s China correspondent, Phillipe Grangerou. “All of the telephone lines were cut months ago. The antenna of the local mobile telephone service has been disconnected, and six surveillance cameras have been placed around the perimeter.”

In addition to the communications blackout and electronic surveillance, the town is guarded by about forty armed men dressed in military garb, who maintain a checkpoint for the few people permitted to come and go. “This group of men terrorizes all of us. But they have been sent by the [Communist] Party committee of the province, so there’s nothing that can be done about it,” one resident reportedly said.

According to Grangerou, the sophisticated security operation surrounding the town of Dongshigu exists for the sole purpose of preventing any contact between Chen and the outside world. Chen and his wife live under house arrest inside their residence, and the only person permitted to enter or leave is an aged relative, who is allowed the privilege only to make minor purchases for the home.

Chen’s troubles stem from his decision in 2005 to file a lawsuit against the local provincial government for carrying out thousands of forced abortions and sterilizations against the population, a practice that is common in China as a means of enforcing the nation’s “one child policy.”

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/china- ... e-activist




... and late 2011 ...


Visitors to Chinese Blind Rights Lawyer Chen Guangcheng Disappear
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_ ... ppear.html
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:51 am

Yes, the timing of this is very interesting. It is likely part of the plan by whomever decided now was the time - perhaps Chen himself or perhaps someone else.

8bitagent wrote:When I hear of US and China waging proxy battles in Africa down the road, I cant help but think of two globalist bullies having at it. I have no love for the Chinese government nor the American government.
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:04 am

Here's one I missed from late last year ...


Posted at 08:31 AM ET, 12/16/2011 TheWashingtonPost
Christian Bale attempts to visit Chinese activist, is blocked by guards (Video)
By Sarah Anne Hughes

Christian Bale. (Andy Wong - AP) Christian Bale was blocked from visiting a human rights activist under house arrest in rural China by plainclothes guards Thursday, as video posted by CNN shows.

The “Dark Knight” actor traveled eight hours from Beijing, where he was promoting the film, “Flowers of War,” to meet Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer and activist who has been confined to his home since being released from prison in September 2010.

Bale — whose run-in with the guards was taped by the CNN camera crew he was traveling with — was pushed and hit by guards attempting to knock a small camera from his hands. He asked the men, “Why can I not visit this free man?” Bale later told CNN, “What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is.”

Chen, a self-taught lawyer, gained international notoriety after he began taking the cases of women who underwent forced abortions and sterilization. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in 2006 for damaging property and disrupting traffic, charges that his supporters say were fabricated, as the Post reported.

By Sarah Anne Hughes | 08:31 AM ET, 12/16/2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/cel ... _blog.html

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby jcivil » Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:41 pm

Good luck to this heroic soul.

Of course, this is no more embarrassing than the escape of the Karmapa Lama. Let alone the illegal detention of the once child and who knows where Panchen Lama.

Still, the timing is good.

Kicking his wife for hours, huh. I would say the red fascist dictatorship lost its mandate of heaven some time ago.
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:54 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Guangcheng


April 30, 2012 7:42 AM
High stakes for U.S. in China standoff over Chen Guangcheng
By Norah O'Donnell

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - The White House is trying to contain a potential crisis before bilateral talks between the U.S. and China kick off on Thursday after a prominent legal activist escaped his house arrest and reportedly took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

This one case about one man could seriously alter relations between the two nations. Neither side has confirmed the whereabouts of Chen Guangcheng, but sources tell CBS News American and Chinese officials are involved in frantic negotiations to reach a deal on the blind, self-taught lawyer's fate.

There are two basic options; Chen could be allowed to remain in China with the government guaranteeing his safety and the safety of his family, or an agreement could be reached for him to leave China - likely for the United States.

-U.S., China rush to resolve standoff over activist
-White House mum on missing Chinese activist Chen
-Blind Chinese lawyer said under U.S. protection

The talks will be difficult, as China considers Chen a criminal, and now an escapee, but both sides have said the issue will not overshadow the economic talks later this week.

With Obama already facing criticism from his Republican rivals for his stance on China, the White House will really want to get something agreed to secure Chen's safety before the talks begin.

The U.S. needs China's help in dealing with Iran, North Korea, and Syria, particularly in light of Beijing's veto-wielding seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Given the timing, Chen could represent the most significant challenge to U.S.-China relations since Beijing's infamous crackdown on student protesters in Tiananmen Square.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162- ... uangcheng/






China, US Rushing To Resolve Crisis Over Blind Activist Chen
NPR (blog)‎ - by Mark Memmott‎ - 17 minutes ago
... in China for economic talks that start on Thursday, the two countries are talking about Chen Guangcheng, who escaped from house arrest earlier this month.


[*]The Saga of China's Blind Dissident: Let Obama Be Obama
Huffington Post‎ - 31 minutes ago

[*]The Baffling Case of Chen Guangcheng
Wall Street Journal (blog)‎ - 8 hours ago

Activist Chen Guangcheng Escapes in China - The Takeaway
www.thetakeaway.org/2012/.../activist-chen-guangcheng-escapes-chi...
45 minutes ago - A blind Chinese pro-democracy activist, Chen Guangcheng escaped from house arrest recently from his village of Shandong province. Reports suggest ...

How Did China Let the Chen Guangcheng Case Get So Out of Hand [b]...[/b]
blogs.wsj.com/.../the-baffling-case-of-chen-guangcheng/ - Hong Kong
49 minutes ago - The escape of the blind activist Chen Guangcheng from his home village in Shandong Province highlights the puzzling way in which his case has been handled.

US asylum likely for China dissident - Associated Press
hosted2.ap.org/.../id-03ed6ed66ab541dba56b10213cd73b3d
44 minutes ago - FILE - In this undated file photo provided by supporters of Chen Guangcheng, blind activist Chen Guangcheng sits in a village in China. Assistant Secretary of ...

Daily Kos: Chen Guangcheng 权力说真话 - Speaking Truth to Power -
www.dailykos.com/.../-Chen-Guangcheng-Speaking-Truth-to-Power-
5 minutes ago - Anything vaguely related to Chen has been blocked on Chinese social media sites, such as posts including or key word searches for Chen, Guangcheng, GC, ...

High stakes for US in China standoff over Chen Guangcheng – CBS [b]...[/b]
vaughanbassett.net/high-stakes-for-us-in-china-standoff-over-chen-...
55 minutes ago - CBS News High stakes for US in China standoff over Chen Guangcheng
CBS News(CBS News) WASHINGTON - The White House is trying to contain a potential ...


HK protesters turn out to support Chen Guangcheng - YouTube
0:25► 0:25[/url]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjzpTZmAwMo New 8 minutes ago - 25 sec - Uploaded by AFP
Protesters supporting Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng shout slogans outside the Chinese Liaison Office ...

More videos for guangcheng »

Chinese police crack down on entourage of dissident Chen [b]...[/b]
www.france24.com/.../20120430-2012-04-30-0223-wb-en-w... - France
14 minutes ago - Chen Guangcheng spent over four years in prison, and has lived virtually cut off from the rest of the world, since his release in September 2010. As we can see ...


High stakes for U.S. in China standoff over Chen Guangcheng
www.progressivenewsdaily.com/?p=29217
56 minutes ago - This one case about one man could seriously alter relations between the two nations. Neither side has confirmed the whereabouts of Chen Guangcheng, but ...


ALERT EU urges China to 'exercise utmost restraint' in Chen [b]...[/b]
vancouverdesi.com/.../alert-eu-urges-china-to-exercise-utmost-restrai...
20 minutes ago - ALERT EU urges China to 'exercise utmost restraint' in Chen Guangcheng case. Published on April 30, 2012 by DesiWireFeed · No Comments. EU urges China ...
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Tue May 01, 2012 3:59 pm


Escape of Lawyer Chen Guangcheng May Have Been Assisted by Guard
Epoch Times Staff Created: May 1, 2012 Last Updated: May 1, 2012

While the help of human rights activist supporters in the escape of Chen Guangcheng has been documented, the possible help of one of his security guards has not received as much attention.

According to an Apple Daily report: “The guards’ attitudes vary. Some guards were sympathetic to Chen Guangcheng, while others thought that he had gone to the extreme and made the China’s government passively subject to the foreign media.”

The possibility remains that one or more of the guards may even have been sympathetic to Chen’s plight, and turned a blind eye.

Apple Daily says in its April 30 report: “The guards were constantly threatened with death by authorities. One guard with a conscience is alleged to have secretly told Chen Guangcheng several times, ‘If you want to run away, we will pretend to have seen nothing. In any case, we are all doomed.’” The esoteric remark “we are all doomed” was not explained by Apple Daily.

Jiang Tianyong, in the same Apple Daily article, said that “While there is no firm evidence, there are people who were watching him that sympathized with Chen, so they would swap people, and get people from far outside the village to watch him. The guards also have a conscience. The government was always saying how bad Chen was, but once you get to know him you see what he’s like. There was someone willing to help him, and from this you see how people’s view can change, and how what the authorities are doing completes loses the confidence of the people.”


http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-n ... 30426.html

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby Ben D » Wed May 02, 2012 5:06 am

Chen Guangcheng leaves US embassy

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing May 2, 2012
©Reuters

Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal rights activist who has been sheltering in the US embassy in Beijing, has left the embassy “of his own volition” after six days, according to the Chinese government.

“Chen Guangcheng has arrived at a medical facility in Beijing where he will receive medical treatment and be reunited with his family,” a senior US official told the Financial Times.

Mr Chen was accompanied by US ambassador Gary Locke in a car to a hospital in downtown Beijing, according to the Washington Post, which received a call from the ambassador at 3.30pm.

The arrangement appears to be the result of intense discussions between US diplomats and the Chinese government, which expressed intense displeasure over the incident even as they appeared to acquiesce in Chen’s departure from the embassy to seek medical treatment.

The Chinese foreign ministry accused the US of using “abnormal methods” to take a Chinese citizen into the American embassy and expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over the event. A ministry spokesman said the US had interfered in China’s internal politics and that China could never accept this.

“The American side must reflect on their own policies and actions and take action to protect the overall situation in Sino-US relations,” Liu Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

Mr Liu said China was demanding an apology from the US, an investigation into the matter, punishment for those responsible, and a guarantee that similar events would not happen again. But he added that the US had shown contrition and promised to take measures to prevent a similar event from happening again.

Mr Chen’s whereabouts were unclear on Wednesday.

Before seeking US protection in Beijing, Mr Chen undertook a daring night time escape from his home in Shandong province last week. He had spent 19 months under house arrest, with his village heavily guarded.

The incident has also come at a difficult moment with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Treasury secretary Tim Geithner arriving in Beijing earlier on Wednesday ahead of the twice-yearly US-China strategic and economic dialogue.
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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby jcivil » Wed May 02, 2012 7:10 am

Red fascist China is too much.

They torture and abuse a blind guy, who escapes and takes refuge in a foreign embassy,

and China demands an apology?!?

Psychotic loser government.

Do they have any idea how stupid they look?

Summary justice for the PRC leadership and colaborators.

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Wed May 02, 2012 9:27 am


Cheng Guangcheng Seeking Medical Treatment in Hospital, is Reunited with Family
By ABC NEWS BEIJING BUREAU | ABC News – 3 hrs ago

Cheng Guangcheng, the blind human rights activist who escaped house arrest and was widely believed to be under the protection of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, is seeking medical treatment at Chaoyang hospital in Beijing and has reunited with his family, according to a senior U.S. official.

Sources tell ABC News that U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke, Legal Advisor to the Department of State Harold Koh and Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell escorted Chen to the hospital where was reunited with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two small children. It is not known how long Chen will remain at the hospital. U.S. officials will continue to be able to meet with him while he is there.

China is demanding an apology from the U.S. for allowing Chen to enter the embassy. U.S. officials continued to decline to comment on his whereabouts until Wednesday, but in a statement the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that Chen spent six days at the U.S. embassy and left of his own volition.

The unexpected diplomatic crisis has arisen at a sensitive time. The news of Chen's whereabouts came just hours after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrived in Beijing to attend the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Top level officials on both sides have been locked in intense meetings on the fate of Mr. Chen for days.

The U.S. has long called for human rights reform in China, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton singling Chen out by name in the past.

Topics expected to be addressed at the SED meetings include nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea, currency evaluation and international trade; key issues on which the U.S. is seeking more significant Chinese support. The Republican administration is also accusing the U.S. of being "soft" on China, further complicating finding a resolution on Chen's future.

Dissident sources emphasize that Chen does not want to leave China for the U.S. and never sought asylum. Hu Jia, a friend and fellow activist, told ABC News the Chen firmly believes that staying in China is critical to his fight against corruption and injustice. Chen only entered the U.S. Embassy, Hu said, because his supporters believed the police were aware he was in Beijing and they could no longer keep him safe.

Outside Chaoyang hospital Jian Tianyong, a human rights lawyer who has worked with Chen in the past, told ABC News that he received a phone call from Chen once he had arrived at the hospital. Jian said that Chen is still in poor health and has been in need of medical attention for several years.

Chen first came to international attention in 2005 for exposing the abortions and forced sterilizations of women in China's rural communities as part of the country's One Child Policy. In 2006 he was sentenced to more than four years in prison for likely trumped up charges of disturbing public disorder.

Upon his release he was placed under extrajudicial house arrest at his home in Dongshigu. On Sunday April 22 Chen made a daring escape from what he has described in videos released online as a brutal house arrest in Shandong Province.

The whereabouts of He Peirong, the young activist who drove Chen to Beijing, remains unknown. Sources in the dissident community say she was last heard from on Friday April 27 and is believed to be in police custody.


http://news.yahoo.com/cheng-guangcheng- ... ories.html

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Wed May 02, 2012 11:41 am


Friend says Chinese activist pressured into deal
Image

BEIJING (AP) — A close friend of Chen Guangcheng says the blind legal activist agreed to stay in China only to protect his family after receiving threats that his wife would be beaten to death if he left the country.

Beijing activist Zeng Jinyan told The Associated Press on Wednesday via Skype that she had just finished talking to Chen, who is in a Beijing hospital with his wife and children.

Zeng said Chen told her that he wanted to go to abroad but was forced to accept a deal to remain in China and go to law school in order to protect his family.

Zeng says Chen was told his wife would be beaten to death if he didn't accept, but she didn't say who made the threat.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BEIJING (AP) — A blind Chinese activist who fled persecution by local officials in his rural town and sparked a diplomatic standoff by holing up in the U.S. Embassy for six days emerged Wednesday after U.S. officials said China had assured his safety.

Chen Guangcheng's escape from illegal house arrest in eastern China and his flight into the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing last week had threatened to derail annual U.S.-China strategic talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton starting Thursday.

U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke escorted Chen to Chaoyang Hospital, where he was reunited with his family as he awaited medical treatment for injuries suffered during his escape. On the way, the activist called his lawyer, Li Jinsong, who said Chen told him: "'I'm free. I've received clear assurances.'"

Chen, 40, also received a call from Clinton, whom he thanked in Chinese for raising his case, a U.S. official said. Chen then told Clinton in halting English, "'I want to kiss you,'" the official said.

Chen's case has been the most delicate diplomatic crisis for Washington and Beijing in years. He had become an international symbol for human dignity after running afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions carried out as part of China's one-child policy.

As part of the agreement that ended the fraught, behind-the-scenes standoff, U.S. officials said China agreed to let Chen and his family be relocated to a safe place in China where he could study at university, and that his treatment by local officials would be investigated.

Clinton said in a statement that Chen's exit from the embassy "reflected his choices and our values" and said the U.S. would monitor the assurances Beijing gave. "Making these commitments a reality is the next crucial task," she said.

In a fit of face-saving pique, the Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded that the U.S. apologize, investigate how Chen got into the embassy and hold those responsible accountable.

"What the U.S. side has done has interfered in the domestic affairs of China, and the Chinese side will never accept it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement.

The apparent resolution shelves, at least for now, a predicament that threatened to move human rights to the front of a U.S.-China agenda crowded with disagreements over trade imbalances, North Korea and Syria.

With Chen out of the way, Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and their Chinese counterparts can focus on the original purpose of their two-day talks starting Thursday: building trust between the world's superpower and its up-and-coming rival.

However, leaving Chen in China is risky for President Barack Obama because Washington will now be seen as party to an agreement on Chen's safety that it does not have the power to enforce.

The negotiations over Chen's fate also included the option of sending him to the U.S., activists said.

Senior U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the intense negotiations that led to Chen leaving the embassy, said the U.S. helped Chen get into the embassy because he injured his leg escaping from his village. In the embassy, Chen did not request safe passage out of China or asylum in the U.S., the officials said.

The officials refused to say if Washington would apologize. One official said that embassy staff acted "lawfully" and in conformity with policy, suggesting that the U.S. does not believe it has anything to apologize for.

Another official would say only that "this was an extraordinary case involving exceptional circumstance, we do not anticipate that it will be repeated."

The officials said they expected that Chinese officials would raise Chen's case during a Wednesday dinner that State Councilor Dai Bingguo is hosting for Clinton and again during the strategic portion of the high-level talks on Thursday and Friday.

Chen served four years in prison on what supporters said were fabricated charges and was then kept under house arrest with his wife, daughter and mother, with the adults often being roughed by officials and his daughter searched and harassed.

His dogged pursuit of justice and the mistreatment of him by authorities brought him attention from the U.S. and foreign governments and earned him supporters among many ordinary Chinese.

The prison term and abusive house arrest he suffered had long been seen as the work of vengeful local officials that Beijing was either unable or unwilling to stop.

As news spread that he had been taken to Chaoyang Hospital, in the eastern part of the city, media crews and a few supporters gathered outside. A man stood in front of the gate at the hospital and held up a sign saying "Freedom for Guangcheng, Democracy for China" for a minute before police took him inside. The hospital's name became a banned search term on the much-censored Chinese Internet, joining a long list of permutations for Chen's name.

In a video statement he recorded while in hiding last week, Chen demanded that the Chinese government guarantee his family's safety. He told fellow activists that his preferred option was to stay in China and continue his legal advocacy as long as his family is safe.

Bob Fu of the Texas-based ChinaAid said earlier Wednesday that Chen was conflicted.

Chen "wants to participate for the progress in China in this moment of history, and he is afraid of course he will lose touch and could not return if he chooses to come to the U.S.," said Fu, who was in touch with the activists who spirited Chen to Beijing.

Aside from his wife, daughter and mother, other family members remain at risk. Chen's elder brother, Guangfu, was detained Thursday after officials discovered the activist missing. A nephew, Kegui, was wanted for injuring local officials when he fought back during a raid, though his whereabouts Wednesday were not known, said Liu Weiguo, a lawyer who volunteered to defend him.

The arrangements for Chen carries risks as well for China's government, which worries about encouraging activists and government critics.

The U.S. officials said Chen would be settled outside his home province of Shandong and have several university options to choose from. They also said that the Chinese government had promised to treat Chen "like any other student in China" and would investigate allegations of abuse against him and his family by local authorities.

Chinese activists and lawyers called the arrangements unprecedented and worried if Beijing would abide by them.

"After all, there is still a lack of rule of law. Think about how long they were able to hold him under illegal house arrest," said lawyer Li Fangping. I think we have to monitor the situation to see if he really does gain freedom after this stage. But I personally don't have a lot of confidence."

___

Associated Press reporters Charles Hutzler, Alexa Olesen and Gillian Wong in Beijing contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/friend-says-chine ... 20109.html

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby jcivil » Wed May 02, 2012 11:47 am

Oh, wait, now he says he left because the P.R.C. threatened to murder his family members if he did not turn himself in.

Now, that fits in with what I know about that dump red fascist China.

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Re: Chen Guangcheng Nearly Free

Postby elfismiles » Wed May 02, 2012 3:12 pm


State Department: We did not relay threats to Chen
Posted By Josh Rogin Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - 12:59 PM Share

The State Department insists that blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng left the U.S. Embassy of his own volition Wednesday and that U.S. officials in Beijing did not convey threats to harm his family by Chinese officials, as Chen claims.

"At no time did any US official speak to Chen about physical or legal threats to his wife and children. Nor did Chinese officials make any such threats to us," said State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "U.S. interlocutors did make clear that if Chen elected to stay in the Embassy, Chinese officials had indicated to us that his family would be returned to [their home in] Shandong, and they would lose their opportunity to negotiate for reunification."

Nuland was responding to accounts by Chen supporters, now repeated by Chen himself to the Associated Press, that said Chen was pressured into leaving the embassy via threats to the safety of his wife and family. Chen told the AP that U.S. officials told him the Chinese would take his family back to their home province in Shandong, where they had been under extrajudicial house arrest and in some cases physically abused, if he didn't leave the embassy.

Chen also said a U.S. official told him the Chinese government would beat his wife to death if he didn't leave the embassy and agree to the terms of the deal struck by U.S. and Chinese negotiators, according to the AP's account.

The State Department disputed that version of events.

"I was there. Chen made the decision to leave the Embassy after he knew his family was safe and at the hospital waiting for him, and after twice being asked by Ambassador Locke if he [was] ready to go," said Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who was a key negotiator in the deal. "He said, ‘zou,' -- let's go. We were all there as witnesses to his decision, and he hugged and thanked us all."

The deal, detailed by Foreign Policy's Editor Susan Glasser from Beijing, included a reunion between Chen and his family at a hospital where he could receive attention to the foot he damaged by scaling a wall during his daring escape last week.

The deal also stipulates that the Chinese government would treat Chen and his family humanely, that they would be relocated, and that Chen would be allowed to study at a university. Senior administration officials told reporters in a background briefing in Beijing that Chen called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from the car to the hospital and said, "I want to kiss you."

Glasser noted that Zeng Jinyan, the wife of well-known activist Hu Jia, contradicted that account on Twitter, saying Chen told her he had asked to "see" Clinton, not to kiss her.

Clinton, in a statement, said, "I am pleased that we were able to facilitate Chen Guangcheng's stay and departure from the U.S. Embassy in a way that reflected his choices and our values."

Chen, according to the AP, said that it was true he had expressed his desire to stay in China. But now that U.S. officials have left him alone in his hospital room, he is having second thoughts.

"I think we'd like to rest in a place outside of China," he said. He then asked to relay a message to Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). "Help my family and I leave safely."

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts ... ts_to_chen




AP Exclusive: Activist now wants to leave China
By ALEXA OLESEN and MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press

Image

BEIJING (AP) -- The blind Chinese activist at the center of a six-day diplomatic tussle between the U.S. and China said he fears for his family's lives and wants to leave China, hours after American officials announced an agreement with Beijing that was to guarantee his safety.

Chen Guangcheng escaped from illegal house arrest and other mistreatment in his rural town, placing himself under the protection of U.S. diplomats last week. On Wednesday, after six days holed up inside the American embassy, he emerged and was taken to a nearby hospital. U.S. officials said they had extracted from the Chinese government a promise that Chen would reunite with his family and be allowed to start a new life in a university town.

Hours later, however, a shaken Chen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his hospital room that U.S. officials told him the Chinese authorities would have sent his family back to his home province if he remained inside the embassy. He added that, at one point, the U.S. officials told him his wife would have been beaten to death.

"I think we'd like to rest in a place outside of China," Chen said, appealing again for help from U.S. officials. "Help my family and me leave safely."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement that no U.S. official spoke to Chen about physical or legal threats to his wife and children. Nor did the Chinese relay any such threats to American diplomats, she said. She did confirm that the Chinese intended to return his family to their home province of Shandong, where they had been detained illegally and beaten by local officials angry over Chen's campaigns to expose forced abortions, and that they would lose any chance of being reunited.

"At every opportunity, he expressed his desire to stay in China, reunify with his family, continue his education and work for reform in his country," Nuland said. "All our diplomacy was directed at putting him in the best possible position to achieve his objectives."

The differing accounts could not be immediately reconciled. But the turn in Chen's fate comes after nearly seven years of prison, house arrest and abusive treatment of him and his family members by local officials.

Chen's flight into the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing last week had created a delicate diplomatic crisis for Washington and Beijing. It also threatened to derail annual U.S.-China strategic talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton starting Thursday.

Under the agreement that ended the fraught, behind-the-scenes standoff, U.S. officials said China agreed to let Chen and his family be relocated to a safe place in China where he could study at university, and that his treatment by local officials would be investigated.

Chen, 40, said he never asked to leave China or for asylum in the U.S. and said American officials reassured him they would accompany him out of the embassy. At the hospital, Chen was reunited with his wife, his daughter and a son he hasn't seen in at least two years. But after they got to his room in Chaoyang Hospital, he said no U.S. officials stayed behind and that the family is now scared and wants to leave the country.

"The embassy told me that they would have someone accompany me the whole time," he said. "But today when I got to the ward, I found that there was not a single embassy official here, and so I was very unsatisfied. I felt they did not tell me the truth on this issue."

He also took issue with another facet of the U.S. version of his departure - that on his way to the hospital Clinton called him and he told her in halting English "I want to kiss you."

"I told Clinton that I want to see her now. I said" - he said speaking in Chinese. Then switching to English he said, "I want to see you now."

Chen had become an international symbol for human dignity after running afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions carried out as part of China's one-child policy. He served four years in prison on what supporters said were fabricated charges and was then kept under house arrest with his wife, daughter and mother, with the adults often being roughed by officials and his daughter searched and harassed.

His dogged pursuit of justice and the mistreatment of him by what seemed like vengeful local authorities brought him attention from the U.S. and foreign governments and earned him supporters among many ordinary Chinese.

The differences over his security aside, leaving Chen in China is risky for President Barack Obama. Washington will now be seen as party to an agreement on Chen's safety that it does not have the power to enforce.

Ai Xiaoming, a documentary filmmaker and activist, said the Chinese government fails to ensure people's rights, so the best solution would be for Chen and his family to go to America.

"In the first place, Chen Guangcheng should not have to ask a foreign country to protect his rights. His rights should be protected by his own country, through the constitution. But it is obvious that this cannot be done," Ai said. "I feel that the U.S. has always accepted political refugees, it has always provided asylum, so I hope to see Chen Guangcheng safely leave."

Clinton said in a statement that Chen's exit from the embassy "reflected his choices and our values" and said the U.S. would monitor the assurances Beijing gave. "Making these commitments a reality is the next crucial task," she said.

The discrepancies also muddy an agreement that would have shelved, at least temporarily, a predicament that threatened to move human rights to the front of a U.S.-China agenda crowded with disagreements over trade imbalances, North Korea and Syria.

With Chen out of the way, in theory, Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and their Chinese counterparts would be set to focus on the original purpose of their two-day talks starting Thursday: building trust between the world's superpower and its up-and-coming rival.

Even so, the Chinese Foreign Ministry signaled its pique with the affair, demanding that the U.S. apologize, investigate how Chen got into the embassy and hold those responsible accountable.

"What the U.S. side has done has interfered in the domestic affairs of China, and the Chinese side will never accept it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement.

Senior U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the intense negotiations that led to Chen leaving the embassy, said the U.S. helped Chen get into the embassy because he injured his leg escaping from his village. In the embassy, Chen did not request safe passage out of China or asylum in the U.S., the officials said.

The officials refused to say if Washington would apologize. One official said that embassy staff acted "lawfully" and in conformity with policy, suggesting that the U.S. does not believe it has anything to apologize for.

The arrangements for Chen carries risks as well for China's government, which worries about encouraging activists and government critics.

As news spread that he had been taken to the hospital, in the eastern part of the city, media crews and a few supporters gathered outside. A man stood in front of the gate at the hospital and held up a sign saying "Freedom for Guangcheng, Democracy for China" for a minute before police took him inside. The hospital's name became a banned search term on the much-censored Chinese Internet, joining a long list of permutations for Chen's name.

The U.S. officials said Chen would be settled outside his home province of Shandong and have several university options to choose from. They also said that the Chinese government had promised to treat Chen "like any other student in China" and would investigate allegations of abuse against him and his family by local authorities.

---

Associated Press reporters Charles Hutzler and Gillian Wong contributed to this report.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 2-12-58-40




Activist Chen Guangcheng wants to leave China amid fears for family's safety after leaving embassy
Image
U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, left, and Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng ride from the American Embassy in Beijing to a hospital May 2, 2012. (U.S. Embassy of Beijing)
Updated at 1:35 p.m. ET

(AP) BEIJING - The blind Chinese activist at the center of a six-day diplomatic tussle between the U.S. and China said he fears for his family's lives and wants to leave China, hours after American officials announced an agreement with Beijing that was to guarantee his safety.

Chen Guangcheng escaped from illegal house arrest and other mistreatment in his rural town, placing himself under the protection of U.S. diplomats last week. On Wednesday, after six days holed up inside the American embassy, he emerged and was taken to a nearby hospital. U.S. officials said they had extracted from the Chinese government a promise that Chen would reunite with his family and be allowed to start a new life in a university town.

Hours later, however, a shaken Chen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his hospital room that U.S. officials told him the Chinese authorities would have sent his family back to his home province if he remained inside the embassy. He added that, at one point, the U.S. officials told him his wife would have been beaten to death.

"I think we'd like to rest in a place outside of China," Chen said, appealing again for help from U.S. officials. "Help my family and me leave safely."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement that no U.S. official spoke to Chen about physical or legal threats to his wife and children. Nor did the Chinese relay any such threats to American diplomats, she said. She did confirm that the Chinese intended to return his family to their home province of Shandong, where they had been detained illegally and beaten by local officials angry over Chen's campaigns to expose forced abortions, and that they would lose any chance of being reunited.

"At every opportunity, he expressed his desire to stay in China, reunify with his family, continue his education and work for reform in his country," Nuland said. "All our diplomacy was directed at putting him in the best possible position to achieve his objectives."

A close friend of Chen's said Chinese officials forced Chen to choose between going into exile alone or staying in China with his family. Beijing activist Zeng Jinyan said she spoke by phone with Chen and his wife while he was in the hospital. Chen told her that his wife's life had been threatened, she said.

"He said what he wanted was totally different but because no one can protect his wife and children" he had to accept, Zeng said via Skype.

The differing accounts could not be immediately reconciled. But the turn in Chen's fate comes after nearly seven years of prison, house arrest and abusive treatment of him and his family members by local officials.

Chen's flight into the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing last week had created a delicate diplomatic crisis for Washington and Beijing. It also threatened to derail annual U.S.-China strategic talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton starting Thursday.

Under the agreement that ended the fraught, behind-the-scenes standoff, U.S. officials said China agreed to let Chen and his family be relocated to a safe place in China where he could study at university, and that his treatment by local officials would be investigated.

Chen, 40, said he never asked to leave China or for asylum in the U.S. and said American officials reassured him they would accompany him out of the embassy. At the hospital, Chen was reunited with his wife, his daughter and a son he hasn't seen in at least two years. But after they got to his room in Chaoyang Hospital, he said no U.S. officials stayed behind and that the family is now scared and wants to leave the country.

"The embassy told me that they would have someone accompany me the whole time," he said. "But today when I got to the ward, I found that there was not a single embassy official here, and so I was very unsatisfied. I felt they did not tell me the truth on this issue."

He also took issue with another facet of the U.S. version of his departure — that on his way to the hospital Clinton called him and he told her in halting English "I want to kiss you."

"I told Clinton that I want to see her now. I said" — he said speaking in Chinese. Then switching to English he said, "I want to see you now."

Chen had become an international symbol for human dignity after running afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions carried out as part of China's one-child policy. He served four years in prison on what supporters said were fabricated charges and was then kept under house arrest with his wife, daughter and mother, with the adults often being roughed by officials and his daughter searched and harassed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-574 ... -to-death/

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