Blind Chinese dissident may be hiding in US embassy

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is reportedly under US protection as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to fly to Beijing as part of an Asian tour.

“High-level talks are currently under way between US and Chinese officials regarding Chen’s status,” ChinaAid, a human rights organisation, said in a statement citing an unnamed source.

Mr Chen reportedly scaled a high wall while under house arrest and was driven hundreds of miles to Beijing. He has released a video addressed to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in which he makes three demands, including that Mr Wen investigate what Mr Chen refers to as the brutal beating of his family

‘No comment’ on dissident

If he is at the US Embassy, it could thrust Washington back into the limelight at a sensitive moment, recalling the case of dissident Chinese astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, who took refuge at the US Embassy following the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. Fang eventually settled in the US.

In Washington, the State Department repeatedly declined to answer questions about Chen’s case.

Hu Jia, a human rights advocate in Beijing who has supported Chen, said he too believed the dissident was under US diplomatic protection.

“It’s clearly understood that his supporters took Chen Guangcheng to the safest place, and our understanding is that the safest place means the United States Embassy,” said Hu, who has himself been jailed for his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai declined to comment on reports that Chen is at the US embassy in Beijing. The U.S. hasn’t comment on Mr Chen’s whereabouts but Mrs Clinton is due to arrive in Beijing for an overnight stay on 3 May.

‘Stand firm’

ChinaAid said it was now up to the Obama administration to “stand firmly” with Chen, “or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law”.

Chen, a self-schooled legal advocate who campaigned against forced abortions, had been restricted to his village home in Linyi in eastern Shandong province since September 2010 when he was released from jail.

‘I have escaped’

“I have escaped,” he said in the video. “Everything that was said on the Internet about the violence directed against me by Linyi, I’m here to say that it was all true.”

Chen’s reported escape and the furore it has unleashed could add to the headaches of China’s ruling Communist Party, which is striving to ensure stability and authority before a leadership transition later this year.

“We are extremely happy to hear that he has left Linyi, we hope for his safety,” human rights lawyer Pu Zhoiang said. “If he did enter the

US embassy, hypothetically, that’s also right.”