Sunday, April 29, 2012
Associated Press
BEIJING
A blind legal activist who escaped house arrest in his Chinese village is under the protection of American officials, activists said Saturday, creating a diplomatic dilemma for the U.S. and Beijing days ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Chen Guangcheng, who has exposed forced abortions and sterilizations in villages as a result of China’s one-child policy, fled from his guarded home a week ago in Shandong province in eastern China. Chinese-based activists say he was driven away by supporters and then handed over to others who brought him to Beijing.
The U.S. and Chinese governments have not confirmed reports that he was at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which declined to comment Saturday. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, originally due in Beijing next week, arrived early today.
He, too, did not comment to reporters.
A Texas-based activist group that has been promoting Chen’s case said Saturday that he was in U.S. care, and Beijing and Washington were discussing the situation.
Chen’s whereabouts could be a major political complication for the two countries, with Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner due to arrive in China for strategic talks that begin Thursday.