Chen Guangcheng

Channel 4 News Asia Correspondent John Sparks blogs on the fate of Chen Guangcheng’s family – the Chinese dissident’s nephew is in jail and could face the death penalty.

“According to the law, every Chinese citizen is entitled to a passport and is free to travel overseas as they wish. The reality, however, is that certain individuals hidden behind the invisible screen of the Chinese security apparatus decide if this law applies or not.”

China and the US have been negotiating over Chen Guangcheng’s future after the self-educated lawyer sought the protection of the Americans in their embassy last week. As part of a still-evolving deal, the dissident may go the US to study – if the Chinese agree to let him go.

International Editor Lindsey Hilsum blogs on the diplomatic implications of the United States’s decision to protect the blind dissident lawyer, Chen Guangcheng.

Channel 4 News International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, on blind Chinese activist, Chen Guangcheng, and how he gave 100 armed police the slip