Chinese Dissident Is Released From Embassy, Causing Turmoil for U.S.
New York Times
by on May 2, 2012 
Chen Guangcheng leaving the American Embassy with Ambassador Gary Locke, center, and Kurt Campbell of the State Department.
BEIJING — In a series of dramatically conflicting developments on Wednesday, the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left American custody under disputed circumstances, and what briefly looked like a deft diplomatic achievement for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton turned into a potential debacle.
Multimedia
Mr. Chen, who was inside the American Embassy compound here for six days as the Chinese and American governments negotiated over his fate, left Wednesday afternoon in a deal that American officials hailed as a breakthrough because it would fulfill his wish to live safely in China.
But even as Americans were releasing photographs of a celebratory send-off of Mr. Chen from the embassy, his friends questioned the reliability of any Chinese promises to allow him to live openly in China, and Mr. Chen later said his decision to give up American protection had not been fully voluntary.
In a telephone interview Thursday morning from his bed at Chaoyang Hospital here, where he was receiving treatment as part of the deal between the Americans and Chinese, Mr. Chen, a lawyer who is blind, said he had left the embassy on his own volition after the Chinese government guaranteed that his rights would be protected. But he also said he had felt some pressure because he was told that Chinese officials had threatened to beat his wife to death if he remained under American protection.
Asked if American officials had encouraged him to leave, he said, "To a certain degree." While he was treated well there, he said, "the U.S. government was not proactive enough."
He said American officials contacted him Thursday morning and said they would visit later in the day,
In interviews Wednesday with Western journalists, Mr. Chen, said he wanted to leave China, preferably for the United States, because "guaranteeing citizens' rights in China is empty talk," an assertion that sharply undermines the American rationale for releasing him from diplomatic protection.
"My safety and my family's safety are not guaranteed even now," he said. "Their promises have not been fulfilled."
The turn of events left Mrs. Clinton to begin her strategic dialogue with her Chinese counterparts on Thursday under a cloud of confusion. It also exposed the Obama administration to criticism from Republicans and human rights groups that it had rushed to resolve a delicate human rights case so that it would not overshadow other matters on the bilateral agenda that Mrs. Clinton previously called more important, including the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs and China's currency and trade policies.
Earlier in the day, senior State Department officials who had negotiated on Mr. Chen's behalf said that he had repeatedly insisted he wanted to remain in China, and that the Chinese authorities had made concessions to make that possible. The officials said the Chinese had agreed to allow him to start a new life in Tianjin, a port city near the capital, where he could study law and live with his family. There, he would be free of the harassment and intimidation he had suffered for years at the hands of security officials in a rural village of Shandong Province, they said.
Mrs. Clinton, who arrived in Beijing about six hours before Mr. Chen's release, said after his departure that the Chinese government had given understandings about his future. "Making those commitments a reality is the next crucial task," she said.
She also said she was "pleased that we were able to facilitate Chen Guangcheng'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.
But the deal began coming apart almost immediately, as the Chinese government issued a blistering statement to domestic news media saying the role the United States had played in the matter "is totally unacceptable to China." The Foreign Ministry statement insisted that Washington offer an apology and punish officials involved in taking Mr. Chen into American protection.
State Department officials disputed Mr. Chen's assertion, made in interviews Wednesday with Western news media, that American officials had relayed threats against his family by the Chinese authorities.
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Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Washington, and Andrew Jacobs from New York. Edy Chin contributed research from Beijing.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: May 2, 2012
An earlier version of this article misspelled Hillary Rodham Clinton’s middle name as Rodman.
A version of this article appeared in print on May 3, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Dissident's Stay At Embassy Ends, Stoking Turmoil.
Chen Guangcheng leaving the American Embassy with Ambassador Gary Locke, center, and Kurt Campbell of the State Department.
BEIJING — In a series of dramatically conflicting developments on Wednesday, the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left American custody under disputed circumstances, and what briefly looked like a deft diplomatic achievement for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton turned into a potential debacle.
Multimedia
Mr. Chen, who was inside the American Embassy compound here for six days as the Chinese and American governments negotiated over his fate, left Wednesday afternoon in a deal that American officials hailed as a breakthrough because it would fulfill his wish to live safely in China.
But even as Americans were releasing photographs of a celebratory send-off of Mr. Chen from the embassy, his friends questioned the reliability of any Chinese promises to allow him to live openly in China, and Mr. Chen later said his decision to give up American protection had not been fully voluntary.
In a telephone interview Thursday morning from his bed at Chaoyang Hospital here, where he was receiving treatment as part of the deal between the Americans and Chinese, Mr. Chen, a lawyer who is blind, said he had left the embassy on his own volition after the Chinese government guaranteed that his rights would be protected. But he also said he had felt some pressure because he was told that Chinese officials had threatened to beat his wife to death if he remained under American protection.
Asked if American officials had encouraged him to leave, he said, "To a certain degree." While he was treated well there, he said, "the U.S. government was not proactive enough."
He said American officials contacted him Thursday morning and said they would visit later in the day,
In interviews Wednesday with Western journalists, Mr. Chen, said he wanted to leave China, preferably for the United States, because "guaranteeing citizens' rights in China is empty talk," an assertion that sharply undermines the American rationale for releasing him from diplomatic protection.
"My safety and my family's safety are not guaranteed even now," he said. "Their promises have not been fulfilled."
The turn of events left Mrs. Clinton to begin her strategic dialogue with her Chinese counterparts on Thursday under a cloud of confusion. It also exposed the Obama administration to criticism from Republicans and human rights groups that it had rushed to resolve a delicate human rights case so that it would not overshadow other matters on the bilateral agenda that Mrs. Clinton previously called more important, including the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs and China's currency and trade policies.
Earlier in the day, senior State Department officials who had negotiated on Mr. Chen's behalf said that he had repeatedly insisted he wanted to remain in China, and that the Chinese authorities had made concessions to make that possible. The officials said the Chinese had agreed to allow him to start a new life in Tianjin, a port city near the capital, where he could study law and live with his family. There, he would be free of the harassment and intimidation he had suffered for years at the hands of security officials in a rural village of Shandong Province, they said.
Mrs. Clinton, who arrived in Beijing about six hours before Mr. Chen's release, said after his departure that the Chinese government had given understandings about his future. "Making those commitments a reality is the next crucial task," she said.
She also said she was "pleased that we were able to facilitate Chen Guangcheng'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.
But the deal began coming apart almost immediately, as the Chinese government issued a blistering statement to domestic news media saying the role the United States had played in the matter "is totally unacceptable to China." The Foreign Ministry statement insisted that Washington offer an apology and punish officials involved in taking Mr. Chen into American protection.
State Department officials disputed Mr. Chen's assertion, made in interviews Wednesday with Western news media, that American officials had relayed threats against his family by the Chinese authorities.
- 1
- 2
Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Washington, and Andrew Jacobs from New York. Edy Chin contributed research from Beijing.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: May 2, 2012
An earlier version of this article misspelled Hillary Rodham Clinton’s middle name as Rodman.
A version of this article appeared in print on May 3, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Dissident's Stay At Embassy Ends, Stoking Turmoil.
by on May 2, 2012 Original Page: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/world/asia/chen-guangcheng-leaves-us-embassy-in-beijing-china.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss