CHEN GUANGCHENG, the human rights activist at the centre of a tense diplomatic stand-off between China and the United States, wants to leave the country with his family to ensure their safety. The frightened “barefoot lawyer” has even asked if he can accompany visiting US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on her flight back to Washington.
Mr Chen is in Chaoyang hospital in Beijing with his family, while US officials try to find a way out of the diplomatic mess. Around the hospital, supporters could be seen wearing sunglasses in solidarity with Mr Chen, who lost his sight when he was an infant. Mrs Clinton and US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday attended the annual Sino-US strategic talks, which were supposed to discuss vital geopolitical issues concerning the world’s two biggest economies but have been overshadowed by the Chen saga.
Mr Chen, a self-taught lawyer who fled illegal house arrest in Shandong province in a daring escape last week, then spent six days in the US embassy. He initially appeared to agree to a deal brokered by the US whereby Chinese officials would allow him to set up a new life near Tianjin.
Speaking to thedailybeast.com's Melinda Liu, an old friend of Mr Chen, the dissident said he wanted to leave China as soon as possible. "My fervent hope is that it would be possible for me and my family to leave for the US on Hillary Clinton's plane," he said.
Victoria Nuland, a state department spokeswoman, told reporters it was clear the family had a change of heart in the last 12-15 hours.
“We need to consult with them further, get a better sense of what they want to do and consider their options,” she said.
The deal was a way of saving face for China, which was irate that the US mission gave sanctuary to Mr Chen. Slamming the affair as interference in Chinese domestic matters, the Beijing authorities have demanded an apology from the Americans.
Mr Chen’s change of heart appears to have come about after he spoke to the activist lawyer Teng Biao. A transcript of their telephone conversation was carried on Twitter and, in it, Mr Teng warned Mr Chen there was no guarantee the Chinese government would not punish anyone afterwards.
“If you stay on in China, it’s going to be very dangerous for you,” he said.
Mr Chen also said he felt pressured to leave, both by Chinese and US officials, something US ambassador Gary Locke denied at a news conference. He said Mr Chen left the embassy after talking twice on the telephone with his wife, Yuan Weijing, who was waiting at the hospital.
“We asked him was he ready to leave. He jumped up, very excited and said ‘let’s go’ in front of many, many witnesses,” Mr Locke said.
Against this troubled background, Mrs Clinton and Mr Geithner met Chinese officials for talks that were aimed at finding ways to resolve the sluggish global economy, and address problems in North Korea, Iran and Syria.
Neither side made specific reference to the Chen case.
“The United States believes that no state can legitimately deny the universal rights that belong to every human being – or punish those who exercise them,” Mrs Clinton said as the talks began.
President Hu Jintao, also speaking at the start of the talks, said it was not possible for China and the US to see eye to eye on every issue.
He told Xinhua news agency that both sides needed to manage differences and improve mutual understanding “so that these differences will not undermine the larger interests of China-US relations”.
“To build a new type of relations between China and the United States we need to act in a spirit of equality and mutual understanding,” he said.
