Blind Chinese Dissident Escapes House Arrest, Now Under US Protection!

[Neil]

Besides playing a huge role in the wrecking of the Soviet Empire?  Humiliating the British?

Worst comparison ever?  Afghanistan was already known as where Empires go to die.

This has got to be the lamest analogy ever.  The Soviets were the first, and probably the last, empire to die there.  And that didn't have anything to do with Afghanistan.

Yeah, the British were chased out of Afghanistan.  So instead of having their empire die, they decided to beat down China and conquer Africa, and generally remain a force to be reckoned with until the entire civilized world cut their own throats in 1914.

[grumbler]

Yeah, the British were chased out of Afghanistan.  So instead of having their empire die, they decided to beat down China and conquer Africa, and generally remain a force to be reckoned with until the entire civilized world cut their own throats in 1914.

The British Empire died so hard in Afghanistan that they were running the country until 1920.

[Kleves]

The US is giving him back:

Beijing (CNN) -- A Chinese human rights activist who escaped house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing left for a hospital Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the life of a man at the center of a controversy between the United States and China.

Chen Guangcheng's presence in the U.S. Embassy prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China. It threatened to overshadow U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders this week.

The situation has presented a complex test for the Obama administration's approach to relations with China, creating a strain between upholding human rights and maintaining steady ties with Beijing.

Chen departed the embassy "of his own volition" after spending six days there, reported Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency. He will be treated at a medical facility in the Chinese capital, where he will be reunited with his family, a senior U.S. official said.

Clinton was the first person who called Chen after he left the embassy, a U.S. official said, Chen said to Clinton, in broken English, "I want to kiss you," the official said.

Clinton said she's pleased that U.S. officials "were able to facilitate" Chen's "stay and departure from the U.S. Embassy in a way that reflected his choices and our values."

"I was glad to have the chance to speak with him today and to congratulate him on being reunited with his wife and children," she said in a statement.

U.S. officials briefing reporters Wednesday said China acknowledged that Chen will be treated humanely.

Chinese officials have guaranteed that no further legal issues will be directed at Chen and that reports of mistreatment against him will be investigated, a U.S. official said.

He has made clear that he wants to stay in China and so will be moved to a "safe environment" away from the province where he was kept under house arrest, another U.S. official said.

Chen may attend a university.

"Mr. Chen has a number of understandings with the Chinese government about his future, including the opportunity to pursue higher education in a safe environment. Making these commitments a reality is the next crucial task," Clinton said.

"The United States government and the American people are committed to remaining engaged with Mr. Chen and his family in the days, weeks, and years ahead."

China, meanwhile, demanded an apology from the United States for its handling of the situation. Liu Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in comments reported by the state-run news agency Xinhua, called the U.S. activity "interference in Chinese domestic affairs, and this is totally unacceptable to China,"

"China demands that the U.S. apologize over this, thoroughly investigate this incident, punish those who are responsible and give assurances that such incidents will not recur," Liu said.

Chen, a blind, self-taught lawyer, evaded guards last month who had kept him under house arrest for more than 18 months in a small eastern village. He was confined to his home after serving four years in prison, apparently over his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices such as forced abortions by China's family planning officials.

He made his way to Beijing on April 22, moving from safe house to safe house before finding refuge at the U.S. Embassy. Friends and fellow activists had raised concerns about his health.

Publicly, the U.S. and Chinese authorities had skirted around the subject of Chen before Wednesday.

President Barack Obama stayed tight-lipped on the matter when asked about it Monday, saying simply that "every time we meet with China, the issue of human rights comes up."

An editorial published Wednesday on the English language website of the Global Times -- a sister publication of the People's Daily, which is the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper -- addressed the subject of the activist.

"In the Western media, Chen is a hot potato for Chinese authorities," the newspaper said. "Now he is making Washington uncomfortable."

It sought to play down the situation's significance for U.S.-Chinese relations, saying the talks this week are "unlikely to dwell on him."

But many activists and commentators have underscored the importance of the issue.

"This is a pivotal moment for U.S. human rights diplomacy," said Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization. He was quoted in a ChinaAid statement Sunday.

The situation is all the more complicated for Clinton, who has advocated Chen's case in the past.

After her arrival in Beijing on Wednesday, she went straight to her hotel without briefing reporters. She has no official engagements until a dinner in the evening with State Councilor Dai Bingguo, a senior foreign policy leader in China.

Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are due to hold talks with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing starting Thursday about strategic and economic issues.

Chen's flight from detention comes at a highly sensitive time for Chinese authorities. The Communist Party has been rocked by a scandal involving former high-ranking leader Bo Xilai, whose wife is under investigation in relation to the mysterious death of a British businessman in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing.

The downfall of Bo, the former Chongqing party chief who is now being investigated in connection with serious disciplinary violations, has created shock waves ahead of a once-in-a-decade leadership transition in China that is due to unfold this year.

Chen, 40, addressed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a video posted Friday on YouTube, detailing "cruel" abuses he said he and his family had suffered at the hands of authorities during months of heavily guarded detention in their home.

"They broke into my house, and more than a dozen men assaulted my wife," he said. "They pinned her down and wrapped her in a comforter, beating and kicking her for hours. They also similarly violently assaulted me."

Journalists and supporters were prevented from visiting Chen during his house arrest. One of those supporters is Hollywood actor Christian Bale, who was roughed up by security guards while attempting a visit in December.

A local court sentenced Chen to four years and three months in prison in 2006 on charges of damaging property and "organizing a mob to disturb traffic" in a protest, charges that his supporters called preposterous.

Since his September 2010 release from prison, he had been confined to his home along with his wife, mother and daughter.

Chen's escape appears to have angered local officials holding him captive, with supporters saying that at least four members of his family have been detained.

In the YouTube video, the activist appealed to the Chinese premier to investigate his case and expressed concern about the welfare of his wife, mother and daughter.

"Although I'm free, my worries are only deepening," he said. "They have been persecuting my family for a long time, and my escape would only prompt them into a mode of revenge."

CNN journalists who attempted to visit Chen's home village of Dongshigu in Shandong province on Tuesday were followed and harassed by men in an unmarked car.

The authorities' reaction also seems to have ensnared some of Chen's supporters, especially those suspected of aiding his escape.

[CountDeMoney]

Man, I hope his comb-over will be able to cover up the bullet wound in the back of his head for the viewing after his suicide.

[Kleves]

I, for one, am confident that Mr. Chen will be treated humanely and not at all turned into Soylent Yellow and fed to the Chinese Hive Mind.

[DGuller]

He himself wanted to stay in China.  You can't help people who don't want to be helped.

[Razgovory]

Chinese dissidents are a dime a dozen.  With a suitably sharp pencil I bet we can make some more blind ones.

[DGuller]

Chinese dissidents are a dime a dozen.  With a suitably sharp pencil I bet we can make some more blind ones.

[Kleves]

Chen is having second thoughts. I am suprised he is able to have thoughts at all, what with the ice pick in his brain.

The Obama administration's diplomatic predicament deepened Thursday when a blind Chinese legal activist who took refuge in the American Embassy told the U.S. he now wants to go abroad, rejecting a deal that was supposed to keep him safely in China.

Only hours after Chen Guangcheng left the embassy for a hospital checkup and reunion with his family, he began telling friends and foreign media they feel threatened and want to go abroad. At first taken aback at the reversal, the State Department said officials spoke twice by phone with Chen and met with his wife, with both affirming their desire to leave.

"They as a family have had a change of heart about whether they want to stay in China," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

Nuland stopped short of saying whether Washington would try to reopen negotiations to get Chen abroad should Beijing agree. "We need to consult with them further to get a better sense of what they want to do and consider their options," Nuland said.

Chen's still unresolved fate threatens to erode already shaky trust between Washington and Beijing at a time both governments are trying to contain their ever sharper jostling for influence around the world. His case hovered over Thursday's opening of two-day talks on global political and economic hotspots led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and their Chinese counterparts.

Chen remained in the hospital, its grounds ringed by a noticeable police presence, making it unclear how his exit could be arranged, and receiving medical tests.

A self-taught lawyer, Chen, 40, spent most of the last seven years in prison or under house arrest in what was seen as retribution by local authorities for his advocacy against forced abortions and other official misdeeds. His wife, daughter and mother were confined at home with him, enduring beatings, searches and other mistreatment.

His escape from house arrest to the fortress-like U.S. Embassy last week inserted Washington in the center of a human rights case, always a testy issue for Beijing, and at the same time potentially embarrassed Chinese leaders that the country is unable to protect its own citizens.

Chen's goal, he told U.S. officials, was to secure the safety of his family and remain in China. Under painstaking arrangements negotiated over days, he was to be reunited with his family and relocated outside his home province to a university town where he could formally study law.

But later, in the hospital, Chen felt abandoned by the U.S., finding no embassy staff had stayed behind to assure his protection. His wife, Yuan Weijing - who is staying with him along with his daughter and a son who has been raised by relatives in recent years - began describing the rough interrogation she received once his escape became known and the fight his nephew got involved in when confronted by officials. Chen said he changed his mind, fearing for their safety if they remained in China.

"Yuan Weijing met him and told him what happened to his family, and that his family was tied to chairs and interrogated by police, and that his nephew attacked somebody and is on the run outside and might be in life-threatening dangers," said Li Jinsong, his lawyer. "These things undoubtedly have left an impact on him."

U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke defended the arrangements at a news conference Thursday and said "unequivocally" that Chen was never pressured to leave. Locke said Chen left the embassy after talking twice on the telephone with his wife, who was waiting at the hospital.

"It may not be everything that they would like or want, but this is a good proposal and we should take the first step," Locke said.

The alternative, Locke said, was a protracted negotiation, with Chen stuck in the embassy and his family at home and at risk.

"He knew that - and was very aware that he might have to spend many, many years in the embassy," Locke said.

It's unclear whether China would be willing to negotiate further over Chen's fate. The government already has expressed anger that the U.S. harbored a Chinese activist. Beijing sees as its right the authority to restrict the movements of Chinese citizens, and the Foreign Ministry reiterated its displeasure Thursday, calling the affair meddling in Chinese domestic matters.

The diplomatic dispute over Chen is sensitive for the Obama administration, which risks appearing soft on human rights during an election year or looking as though it rushed to resolve Chen's case ahead of the strategic talks Clinton opened.

Clinton said in a speech that China must protect human rights, rejecting Beijing's criticism of the U.S. for getting involved in Chen's case.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told the gathering that China and the United States "must know how to respect each other" even if they disagree.

"Given our different national conditions, it is impossible for both China and the United States to see eye-to-eye on every issue," he said in the only part of the opening ceremony that was broadcast on state television. "We should properly manage the differences by improving mutual understanding so these differences will not undermine the larger interests of China-U.S. relations."

Should Beijing agree to negotiate, among the issues that would have to be worked out if Chen leaves China is whether he would go as a visiting scholar - an indication his stay would be temporary - and whether China would let him return. The government has at times revoked the passports of dissidents abroad, rendering them stateless.

A delay in figuring out how to help Chen may also undercut the U.S. bargaining power. Pressure for a resolution would subside once Clinton leaves China on Saturday

It will be pretty bad if it comes out that Chen was at all pressured by the US to leave the embassy.