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China Activist Says He Felt Pressure to Take U.S. Deal
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. cheap michael kors watches
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. michael kors outlet bags
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, cheap Michael Kors
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. michael kors tote bags
