SECURITY WAS tight around the various US embassy facilities in Beijing, but it was still not clear yesterday behind which walls the dissident “barefoot” lawyer Chen Guangcheng had found sanctuary since his daring flight from house arrest a week ago.
Mr Chen slipped away from under heavy surveillance around his village home in eastern Shandong province. He is believed to have fled to the US embassy, but this has not been confirmed.
Somewhere in Beijing, US and Chinese officials were trying to hammer out a solution to gain asylum for the activist, and some kind of deal was expected before secretary of state Hillary Clinton arrives this week for the annual US-China strategic and economic dialogue, the two countries’ most important bilateral talks.
The most likely outcome is that Mr Chen will be allowed to leave the US, possibly with his family. He is popular among many Chinese for his activism, and he is the focus for many international complaints about China’s human rights record. Allowing him to leave would make things easier for both Beijing and Washington.
China has also declined to make any public comment on Mr Chen’s escape and his flight has triggered a delicate diplomatic crisis for both governments.
Mr Chen was a well-known dissident who angered authorities in rural China by exposing forced abortions and sterlisations.
He was charged with traffic and public order offences, trumped up charges say his supporters, and jailed for four years.
Since his release in September 2010 he has been held under a brutal form of house arrest. He says his guards attacked and beat his wife senseless and attacked his mother, even though there have been no charges against him.
Bob Fu, head of the Texas-based human rights group ChinaAid, which was reportedly key in organising Mr Chen’s release, said they believed a resolution would be reached in days.
“I was told the Chinese top leaders have been deliberating a decision to be made very soon. A Chinese official response [is] expected in the next day or so,” he told Reuters.
Mr Fu said he got his information from “both sides” in the talks over Mr Chen’s fate. The US state department would not comment.
This week’s annual strategic talks have major importance globally, as the US and China are the world’s two biggest economies and also have key roles in resolving international disputes in North Korea, the Middle East and Africa.
Kurt Campbell, a US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, was photographed arriving in Beijing yesterday for talks about Mr Chen, although there has been no information from the US embassy. The US has not confirmed reports that Mr Chen is at an American diplomatic facility.
Phelim Kine, senior Asia researcher at the Human Rights Watch group, said the situation “has all the makings of the diplomatic equivalent of a slow-motion car crash”.
“Still unconfirmed reports of intense discussions between US and Chinese officials on Chen Guangcheng’s status, whereabouts, safety and well being give rise to hope of a resolution that both protects Chen, his family and his supporters without impacting the wider US-China relationship,” he said.
International officials have weighed in on the case, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
