Chinese dissident speaks by phone to congressional hearing

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng spoke to a congressional hearing Thursday from his Beijing hospital bed and requested a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The surprise call — Chen’s voice amplified from a cellphone held to a microphone — was the latest twist in a dramatic week in which his bid for U.S. protection has snared U.S.-China diplomacy and cast an international spotlight on his persecution by Chinese authorities.

Chen expressed fears for his family members, particularly his mother and brothers, and said that people in his home village were suffering retribution for helping him, since he escaped from house arrest and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

The blind activist, who has spent the past seven years in prison or under abusive house detention, left the embassy for a hospital Wednesday.

He since has said that rather than stay in China as originally agreed in negotiations between Chinese and U.S. officials, he wants to come with his family to the U.S.