|
The United States said Thursday it was in talks with Chinesedissident Chen Guangcheng about his future, after the blindactivist expressed fears for his safety and pleaded to be takenabroad. The campaigning lawyer, who escaped from house arrest and spent sixdays at the US embassy in Beijing until he left on Wednesday, is atthe centre of a sensitive diplomatic row between China and theUnited States. US officials have said Chen, who riled Chinese authorities byexposing forced abortions and sterilisations under the government's"one-child" policy, left the embassy after Beijing pledged he andhis family would be treated "humanely". But Chen has since said he felt under pressure to leave theembassy, fearing for the safety of his family, who sufferedrepeated abuses at the hands of local officials in their home town. On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Chenand his wife had made clear they no longer wanted to stay in China. "It is clear now that in the last 12 to 15 hours they as a familyhave had a change of heart on whether they want to stay in China,"Nuland said in Beijing, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton istaking part in previously scheduled talks. "We need to consult with them further, get a better sense of whatthey want to do, and together consider their options," she toldreporters. Nuland said that US officials on Thursday spoke twice with Chen bytelephone and also spoke with his wife "for a long time". US State Department officials have been adamant that Chen neverrequested asylum and strongly denied allegations that he waspressured to leave the embassy. Any renewed abuse against Chen could prove to be a politicalnightmare for Barack Obama's administration, which has faced callsto show its commitment to defend human rights in China as the USpresident runs for re-election. Speaking to AFP on Thursday, Chen said he did not initially want toseek asylum overseas, but changed his mind after emerging from theembassy due to concern for his safety and that of his family. "I want to go overseas. I want the US to help me and my family.They helped me before," he said by phone from a Beijing hospitalwhere he is being treated for a foot injury suffered during hisdramatic escape on April 22. "I don't feel safe here. I want to leave." Chen, 40, told the BBC that after arriving in hospital WednesdayChinese officials had prevented US officials from visiting him. "I got to know that they were prevented from coming in, not thatthey are not coming in," Chen said, adding that his wife told himCCTV cameras were being installed at their home. He also told CNN that since his escape his wife had been tied to achair for two days by police who threatened to beat her to death inhis home province of Shandong, in northeastern China. And he told the Daily Beast website he wanted to leave China withClinton, who has repeatedly criticised Chen's treatment in thepast. "My fervent hope is that it would be possible for me and my familyto leave for the US on Hillary Clinton's plane," said Chen, whospoke to Clinton by telephone on Wednesday. Leading Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng said Washington made a"serious mistake" in allowing Chen to leave its embassy and saidthere was "no chance" the Chinese government would allow Chen toleave the country. Chen's flight came despite round-the-clock surveillance at hishouse in Shandong, where he has alleged that he and his familysuffered severe beatings after he ended a four-year jail term in2010. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said therewere serious concerns over whether the Chinese government wouldhonour commitments it made to the US government not to persecuteChen. "Not only does the Chinese government have an appalling trackrecord on human rights, but Chen himself has also already reportedreceiving threats to his family's safety by government officials,"she added. At Thursday's opening of the two-day "Strategic and EconomicDialogue", Clinton did not single out Chen, but told her Chinesehosts including President Hu Jintao that they cannot deny the"aspirations" of their citizens "for dignity and the rule of law". However, in his own opening remarks, Hu called for the UnitedStates and China to respect each other's concerns and warned thatany worsening of relations posed "grave" risks for the world. Clinton on Wednesday said the United States remained "committed" toChen and US officials said they had received assurances from Chinathat the legal campaigner could be safely reunited with his family. Despite Wednesday's agreement, Beijing demanded that the UnitedStates apologise for what it called "interference" in its affairs. No apology has been forthcoming from Washington, but AssistantSecretary of State Kurt Campbell said Chen's flight to the embassypresented "an extraordinary circumstance with very unusualparameters, and we don't expect it to be repeated". White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to say whether Washingtonwould offer Chen asylum, saying it was "a State Department issue". Chen wants to go to US, but maybe not asylum: activist Washington (AFP) May 3, 2012 - Blind Chinese activist ChenGuangcheng wants to go to the United States, but has notspecifically raised the possibility of requesting political asylum,an activist close to him said Thursday. Bob Fu, a former Tiananmen Square democracy activist who heads theUS-based rights group China Aid, told reporters that he spoke lateWednesday with Chen, who is in a Beijing hospital after six days atthe US embassy in Beijing. Fu, who testified before a US commission on human rights in Chinaon Capitol Hill on Thursday, said the 40-year-old Chen, who made adaring escape from house arrest in the eastern province ofShandong, was upset. "I spoke with Chen last night. He was in the hospital, veryisolated -- he was crying and kept telling me 'please help bring myfamily to the US'," Fu said. "He didn't specifically use the word 'asylum'. He made a very clearrequest that he and his family do not feel safe at all and theywant to come to the US for rest or visiting or medical treatment." Fu called on the US government to up the pressure on Chineseauthorities to quickly issue a passport to Chen, and noted that ifChen were to ask for political asylum in the United States, hecould never come back to China. "It's almost equal to treason inside of China to ask for asylum ina foreign country," he said. "He wants to return to China and in his mind, of course, seekingasylum is a one-way street: he cannot return to China." Chen, who riled Chinese authorities by exposing forced abortionsand sterilizations under the "one-child" policy, fled house arreston April 22 and sought refuge in the US embassy, where he demandedassurances on his freedom. He left the US embassy in Beijing on Wednesday, but later told AFPand other media that he feared for his life and the safety of hisfamily, appealing to US President Barack Obama to help him leaveChina. He also accused US officials of pushing him hard to leave thesafety of the embassy, something which US officials have denied. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Oxygen Beauty Machine , E-light IPL RF Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Nd Yag Laser Hair Removal Machine.
Related Articles -
Oxygen Beauty Machine, E-light IPL RF Manufacturer,
|
