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US, China forge
tentative deal on Chinese activist
AP, BEIJING
The US and China yesterday forged the outlines of a deal to end a diplomatic
standoff over legal activist Chen Guangcheng (³¯¥ú¸Û), with Beijing saying he can
apply to go abroad for study and Washington saying he has been offered a US
fellowship.
After three days of fraught, behind-the-scenes and emotional calls by Chen from
a guarded hospital room, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said
progress had been made in granting the activist¡¦s wish to take his family
abroad.
She said she was encouraged by a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that said
Chen may apply to leave the country. Chen has been offered a fellowship at a US
university and may take his family, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland said, adding that the US expects Beijing to quickly process their travel
permits, after which US visas would be granted.
¡§Over the course of the day, progress has been made to help him have the future
that he wants, and we will be staying in touch with him as this process moves
forward,¡¨ Clinton said speaking to reporters after two days of annual strategic
talks in Beijing.
The quickly announced steps were positive signs that the governments were
nearing a deal to end one of their most delicate diplomatic crises in years.
The concession was offered in a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement
while Chen remained in a guarded Beijing hospital ward, unable to see US
officials. His wife¡¦s movements are being monitored, he said, and the couple
with their two children feel in danger.
On Thursday, several of his supporters and family members were beaten up outside
the hospital when they tried to see him.
"I can only tell you one thing: My situation right now is very dangerous," Chen
said. "For two days, American officials who have wanted to come and see me have
not been allowed in."
A blind, self-taught lawyer and symbol of China¡¦s civil rights movement, Chen
embroiled Washington and Beijing in their most delicate diplomatic crisis in
years after he escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the US embassy last
week. He left six days later under a negotiated deal in which he and his family
were to be safely relocated in China so he could formally study law. However, he
then upended the agreement by saying they wanted to go abroad.
Chen was released to a Beijing hospital where he was reunited with his wife, son
and daughter.
On Thursday, he called in to a congressional hearing in Washington, telling
lawmakers he wanted to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is
in Beijing for annual security talks.
"I hope I can get more help from her," Chen said.
While publicly Washington has said little and Beijing has shown little
inclination to budge, contacts have taken place. Clinton met Chinese President
Hu Jintao (JÀAÀÜ) and other top leaders, though officials declined to say if
Chen¡¦s case was discussed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement was among
the first signs of progress. In it, a spokesman said Chen, as a normal citizen,
may apply to study overseas.
"As a Chinese citizen, if he wants to study abroad he can go through the normal
channels to the relevant departments and complete the formalities in accordance
with the law like other Chinese citizens," the statement said, without
elaborating.
While the statement only reiterates the normal rights of a Chinese citizen, it
underscored the government¡¦s openness to letting him go and gives shape to a
possible solution: He goes abroad with the approval of the Chinese government,
not the US, giving Beijing a face-saving way out.
At a press briefing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Weimin
(¼B¬°¥Á) said that Chen faces no pending criminal charges, indirectly acknowledging
that the house arrest he and his family endured for the past 20 months in their
rural home was the retribution of local officials for Chen¡¦s activism. Chen has
exposed forced abortions and other abuses in his community as part of China¡¦s
population controls.
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