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Beijing and Washington are working on a deal to allow rightsactivist Chen Guangcheng to leave China for the United States withhis family after he fled house arrest, a fellow activist saidTuesday. Bob Fu, who runs the US-based group China Aid and has been incontact with Chen and his supporters, said both sides were keen fora swift agreement ahead of key US-China talks that start onThursday in Beijing. Chen had initially been reluctant to leave China, but now acceptedit would be difficult for him to stay, and was prepared to go intoexile in the United States as long as his family could accompanyhim, Fu said. "The situation has changed on the past few days. He understandsthat there is no way he could return to Dongshigu now," Fu told AFPby telephone, referring to Chen's hometown. "But he won't leave without his family -- if he had thought aboutthat he would already have gone. "The most viable scenario is to negotiate a quick deal to allowChina to make a face-saving agreement." That could involve China allowing the family to leave for medicaltreatment in the United States, said Fu, a former Tiananmen Squaredemocracy activist who fled China in 1996 and now lives in Texas. Fu did not reveal who his sources were, but said he had contactswith officials in China and Washington who said both sides were"working very actively to find a solution". Chen, 40, a self-taught lawyer, escaped from house arrest in theeastern province of Shandong on April 22, and is now said to beunder US protection in Beijing. His wife and young daughter arebelieved still to be in Dongshigu. The affair threatens to overshadow annual talks on the Sino-USrelationship between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and their Chinese counterpartson Thursday and Friday. Neither the United States nor China has so far commented on Chen'swhereabouts, underscoring the sensitivity of the situation. But Clinton has in the past repeatedly criticised China's treatmentof Chen, who won worldwide acclaim for exposing forcedsterilisations and late-term abortions under China's policyrestricting the size of most families. He and his family were put under round-the-clock house arrest afterhe completed a four-year jail sentence in September 2010. He hassaid he was being punished for defiantly continuing to speak out. Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert who was a top aide to presidentBill Clinton, said he believed the United States wanted a solutionthat is "the least embarrassing to China and to do so asexpeditiously as possible." "The question to my mind is whether in China this turns into apolitical football in a very political season. I think it's morelikely to be resolved than to turn into a political football, butyou never can predict this stuff," said Lieberthal, a senior fellowat the Brookings Institution. China is preparing for a once-in-a-decade political handover, withthe communist leadership extremely keen to avoid any embarrassmentsas Vice President Xi Jinping prepares to succeed President HuJintao. The facade of a smooth transition was already shattered when risingstar Bo Xilai was dramatically ousted from China's inner circle ina scandal that involved his right-hand man seeking refuge,unsuccessfully, at a US consulate. With the 2012 campaign well under way in the US, White Househopeful Mitt Romney has criticized Obama's China policy, saying heshould challenge the rising Asian power more aggressively over itshuman rights record, trade practices and military expansion. He has urged the administration to take "every measure" to protectChen and his family. Chen addressed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a defiant videoreleased after he somehow escaped from under heavy guard at hishome, saying "Dear Premier Wen, I finally escaped." He went on to detail the harsh conditions of his house arrest,beatings of his wife and mother at the behest of local officials inhis hometown, and demanded an investigation. Fellow dissident Hu Jia, who says he met with Chen following hisescape, said Monday that Chen was "not seeking political asylum"but intended to stay in China and fight for protection of legalrights. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Slip Clutch Disc , China Silicone Bellows for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Silicone Rubber Rings.
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