Blind Chinese activist appears to have left for US
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, in a wheelchair, is helped to head to a commercial flight Saturday, May 19, 2012 at Beijing International Airport in Beijing.
AP
BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) -Chinaallowed a blind legal activist,Chen Guangcheng, to leave a hospital in Beijing on Saturday and board a plane bound for theUnited States, a move that could signal the end of a diplomatic standoff between the two countries.
Chen’s escape from house arrest innortheastern Chinalast month and subsequent stay in theU.S. embassycaused huge embarrassment forChinaand led to a diplomatic rift while U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clintonwas visiting Beijing for talks to improve ties between the world’s two biggest economies.
There was no initial visual confirmation that Chen was aboard a United Airlines aircraft bound forNewark, but the U.S. State Department said he was en route to theUnited States, along with his wife and two children.
Chen’s friend,Jiang Tianyong, cited the activist as saying that he and his family obtained their passports at the airport on Saturday after his release from hospital, hours before he was due to board a flight.
“I just spoke to him and he said he was about to board the flight very soon,” Jiang said.
“I’m obviously very happy. When he boards the plane, he can finally say: ‘I’m free’. At the same time, I feel a sense of regret because such a large country likeChinacan’t even tolerate a citizen like him to exist here.”
Jiang said Chen was headed toNew York, where the blind activist has been offered a fellowship fromNew York University.
The officialXinnhuanews agency said Chen had applied to study in theUnited Statesunder legal procedures, but made no mention of whether he had left the country. TheForeign Ministrysaid this month that Chen could apply to study abroad, a move seen as a way of easing Sino-U.S. tensions on human rights.
Chen’s abrupt departure for the airport came about three weeks after he arrived at theChaoyang Hospitalfrom the U.S. embassy, where he had taken refuge after a dramatic escape from 19 months under house arrest in his home village.
Chen Guangcheng, 40, who taught himself law, was a leading advocate of the rights defence movement. He came to national fame by campaigning for farmers and disabled citizens and exposing forced abortions.
He was jailed for a little over four years from 2006 on what he and his supporters say were trumped-up charges designed to end his rights advocacy.
He had accusedShandongofficials in 2005 of forcing women to have late-term abortions and sterilisations to comply withChina’s strict family-planning policies. Authorities finally moved against him with charges of whipping up a crowd that disrupted traffic and damaged property.
Formally released in 2010, he remained under house arrest in his home village inShandong, which officials turned into a fortress of walls, security cameras and guards in plain clothes who kept Chen isolated.
POLICE AT THE AIRPORT
United Airlines flight UA 88, which had been due to leave at 3.45 p.m., departed around 5.50 p.m. (0950 GMT). Three uniformed police officers and plainclothes officers followed passengers down the mobile corridor leading to the plane’s door.
The cabin crew waited for passengers to take their seats before closing the curtain to the front section, where the business class seats were located, a Reuters witness said.
“Don’t even think about it, you won’t be able to get anything,” a member of the cabin crew told a Reuters reporter holding a video camera.
Chen had earlier said he believed he would be headed on a flight to theUnited States, but added he was still uncertain of it. TheU.S. embassywas not immediately available for comment.
Chen had earlier told Reuters by telephone: “I’m at the airport now. I’ve already left the hospital. But there are many things that are still unclear.”
Chen said that his wife and two children were at the airport with him, accompanied by hospital staff. He said the family was anticipating a departure for theUnited States, but was waiting for news on what was to happen next.
Two police cars were stationed below the walkway to the plane, and about 10 security officials in plainclothes circulated around the airport.
Passengers at the gate to Chen’s flight appeared not to know that he would be on the same flight.
“If our country is a body, his plight is like a sickness that in the future will help the body to protect and strengthen itself,” saidXi Jingwen, who was awaiting to board a flight to theUnited States, when asked aboutChen Guangcheng.
“This is how I feel aboutChen Guangchenghimself and other similar things that have happened inChina. All of it can encourage the political system to improve and reform.”
DRAMATIC ESCAPE
Chen’s confinement, his escape and the furore that ensued have made him part ofChina’s dissident folklore: a blind prisoner outfoxingCommunist Partycontrols in an echo of the man who stood down an army tank nearTiananmen Squarein 1989.
Chen’s supporters welcomed his departure, saying he had indicated that he would like to return toChina.
“I even told him…that he has to do a repeat of him scaling walls. If not, we wouldn’t be able to believe it,”Nanjing-based activistHe Peirongsaid of her earlier conversation with Chen.
She was one of six activists who drove Chen fromShandongto Beijing after his escape. The village ofDongshigu, where Chen’s mother and other relatives remain, is still under lockdown.
TheU.S. embassyhad earlier thought it had stuck a deal to allow Chen to stay inChinawithout retribution, but that fell apart as Chen grew worried about his family’s safety. He changed his mind about staying and asked to travel to theUnited States.
Human rights are a big factor in relations betweenChinaand theUnited States, even thoughWashingtonneedsChina’s help on issues such as Iran,North Korea,Sudanand the global economy.