BEIJING (AP) — A blind legal activist escaped house arrest in his Chinese village for American officials’ protection, activists said Saturday, creating a diplomatic dilemma for the U.S. and Beijing days ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Chen Guangcheng, who has exposed forced abortions and sterilizations in villages as a result of China’s one-child policy, fled from his guarded home a week ago in Shandong province in eastern China. Chinese-based activists say he was driven away by supporters and then handed over to others who brought him to Beijing.
The U.S. and Chinese governments have not confirmed reports that he was at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which declined comment Saturday.
A Texas-based activist group that has been active in promoting Chen’s case said that China and the U.S. were in high-level communication about the 40-year-old.
“Chen is under U.S. protection and high-level talks are currently under way between U.S. and Chinese officials regarding Chen’s status,” said a statement from the ChinaAid Association. The group said it was in contact with a person with knowledge of the situation.
Chen’s whereabouts could be a major political complication for the two countries, with Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arriving in China for strategic talks that begin Thursday on global economics and topics including the violence in Sudan and maritime claims in Asia’s seas.
Asked about Chen’s case at a Saturday briefing on the upcoming U.S. talks, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said: “Your question does not come within the scope of today’s briefing. So I have no information to give you.”
Chen’s case comes as the United States is looking for help from China on many issues around the world, such as trying to restrain North Korea and Iran on their nuclear ambitions, and push Syria to observe a cease-fire in the fighting in that country. Bilateral disputes over trade, China’s currency and U.S. relations with Taiwan are also issues that likely will be part of the strategic talks.
ChinaAid’s founder, Bob Fu, said Chen’s case was a benchmark for the United States and its human rights image around the world.
“Because of Chen’s wide popularity, the Obama administration must stand firmly with him or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law,” he said in the statement.
“If there is a reason why Chinese dissidents revere the U.S., it is for a moment like this,” Fu said.
Fu and Chinese-based activists say Chen slipped away from his intensely guarded home on the night of April 22. His wife and 6-year-old daughter are still there.
Chen recorded a video as a direct address to Premier Wen Jiabao, condemning the treatment of him and his family and accusing local Communist Party officials by name. Activists sent the video Friday to the overseas Chinese news site Boxun.com, which posted part of it on YouTube.
Activist Hu Jia met with Chen after his escape and said people with Chen later called him.
“They said, ‘He is in a 100 percent safe place,’” Hu said. “If they say that, I know where that place is. There’s only one 100 percent (safe) place in China, and that’s the U.S. Embassy.”
Hu’s claim could not be verified. If Chen is in the U.S. Embassy or with U.S. officials at another location, it is not known how he would be able to leave or where he could go without Chinese permission. There was no extra security outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Saturday.
Hu’s wife, Zeng Jinyan, posted a photo Friday on Twitter of Chen and Hu together. Chen is wearing the same clothes he wore in the video. Both men are smiling.
Chen’s escape, if ultimately successful, would boost a beleaguered civil rights community, which has faced rising arrests and other harassment over the past year.
In 1989, when Fang Lizhi, whose speeches inspired student protesters throughout the 1980s, fled with his wife to the U.S. Embassy after China’s 1989 military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, he was forced to stay there for 13 months while the countries discussed his fate.
Chen’s case is more complicated because his wife and daughter are still in Shandong.
Fu said Chen’s case should be handled through negotiations, like Fang’s, and that his family should not suffer any reprisals.
“The odds are that it will be a long negotiation and a stalemate for a time,” said Jerome Cohen, a Chinese law expert at New York University. “China has some cards to play starting with Chen’s wife and children plus the accomplices to his escape.”
China’s media have been silent on the case, and most words related to Chen and his village have been blocked online. Chinese political analysts have declined to comment.
A self-taught lawyer blinded by fever in infancy, Chen served four years in prison for revealing forced abortions and sterilizations in his and surrounding villages. Since his release in September 2010, local officials confined him to his home, beating him up on several occasions.
Chen was widely admired by rights activists at home who last year campaigned to publicize his case among ordinary Chinese and encourage them to go to Dongshigu village and break the security cordon. Even Hollywood actor Christian Bale tried to visit, but was roughed up by locals.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups called on the Chinese government to ensure the safety of Chen and his family, saying they had been abused during 18 months of illegal house arrest.
BEIJING (AP) — A state-run Chinese website has launched a bitter attack on the Dalai Lama, accusing the exiled Buddhist leader of “Nazi”racial policies and of inciting Tibetans to set themselves on fire.
The commentary on China Tibet Online, also carried Saturday by the official Xinhua News Agency, is one of the strongest reactions from Beijing to a string of protests in ethnic Tibetan areas of China.
About 30 Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people have set themselves on fire in the past year to protest what they say are repressive government policies toward their religion and culture. Many seek the return of the Dalai Lama.
The commentary follows other attacks by government officials on the Dalai Lama, who has praised the courage of those who engage in self-immolation and has attributed the protests to what he calls China’s “cultural genocide” in Tibet. But he also says he does not encourage the protests, noting they could invite an even harsher crackdown.
The website, set up in 2000 to present the government’s perspective on Tibet, accused the Dalai Lama of instigating the self-immolations and advocating Nazi racial segregation ideas.
It said the Dalai Lama had encouraged people to self-immolate because he called on Tibetans not to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in February to remember those who have set themselves on fire.
There was no immediate comment from the Dalai Lama’s office in Dharmsala, India.
One activist group, London-based Free Tibet, released a video on Friday of one of the most recent self-immolations, showing the death earlier this month of Sonam Thargyal, a 44-year-old farmer who doused himself with kerosene before setting himself on fire.
The Chinese website was critical of the Dalai Lama’s comments that government policies, which include increased use of the Chinese language in Tibetan schools, were eroding Tibetan culture.
“The Dalai Lama still treats himself as the serf owner, Tibet as his property and Tibetan people as his slaves,” it said.
The government says it has substantially improved lifestyles in minority areas through massive spending programs, and that most Tibetans lived in feudal-like conditions before the Dalai Lama fled to exile in India in 1959 during a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
It said the Dalai Lama’s goal was to restore Tibetan serfdom and divide China. The Dalai Lama has said his aim is increased autonomy within China.
The commentary said the Dalai Lama’s remark that a future autonomous Tibetan region should be allowed to regulate who lives in the region was “a public declaration to expel non-Tibetan residents out of Tibet.”
It called him a “tricky liar skilled in double-dealing” who wants to build a “Berlin Wall” of ethnic segregation and confrontation.
“The remarks of the Dalai Lama remind us of the uncontrolled and cruel Nazi during the Second World War. … How similar it is to the Holocaust committed by Hitler on the Jewish!” the commentary said in criticizing the Dalai Lama’s call for high levels of autonomy for Tibetan areas.
It also said the Dalai Lama was controlled by the United States and that his relatives work for the Central Intelligence Agency.
It said the Dalai Lama, by praising the courage of those who died from self-immolations, left no doubt among his followers that one way for them to earn his prayers was for them to set themselves on fire.
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Online:
http://eng.tibet.cn/2010home/news/201203/t20120322_1728698.html
BEIJING (AP) — China’s state news agency confirmed Wednesday that a 20-year-old Tibetan woman died after setting herself on fire but said it may have been a result of depression caused by a head injury.
Tibetan areas in China are on edge and under heavy security. More than two dozen Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China over the last year to protest what they say is China’s suppression of their religion and culture, and to demand the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.
China has confirmed some of the incidents, and says Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and groups outside the country are behind the protests and self-immolations.
In the latest case, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted local officials in Gansu province as saying that Tsering Kyi had been hospitalized after hitting her head on a radiator and suffered fainting spells prior to setting herself on fire. Activist groups had earlier reported that she died on Saturday.
Xinhua said her school grades started to slip, “which put a lot of pressure on her and made her lose her courage for life and study.”
Tsering was one of three people reported by overseas Tibetan activist groups and a U.S.-based broadcaster to have set themselves on fire since the weekend.
On Monday, an 18-year-old identified only as Dorje died after setting himself ablaze near a government office in Jia township, in Sichuan province’s Aba prefecture, according to Radio Free Asia. Local government and Communist Party offices said they hadn’t received any notice of an immolation or did not answer the phone. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet also reported Dorje’s death.
Radio Free Asia had also reported Tsering’s death, and that of a 32-year-old woman with four young children who self-immolated in Aba on Sunday. Tibetan areas are mostly off-limits to foreign media and it was not possible to independently confirm the claims.
This is a sensitive time for Tibet, and for all of China. China’s annual legislative session, a time when security is tightened across the country, began Monday. March is also when Tibetans mark significant anniversaries, including that of the unsuccessful 1959 revolt that caused the Dalai Lama to flee, and deadly anti-government riots that rocked the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 2008.
China says it treats minority groups such as Tibetans fairly, and pours tens of billions of dollars into improving living conditions in their areas.
The self-proclaimed government in exile issued a statement from its base in Dharamshala, India, appealing to the Chinese government to address the grievances of Tibetans.
“We also appeal to the governments and the international community to make urgent representations to the Chinese government to end the tragic cycle of self-immolation in Tibet by adopting liberal polices in Tibet,” Kalon Dicki Chhoyang, department of Information & International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, said in an emailed statement.
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda wrapped up a trip to Beijing on Monday where he sought China’s cooperation in promoting stability in North Korea after the death of its longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
Noda’s first official visit to Beijing since taking power in September would normally have centered on bilateral issues, such as squabbles over islands claimed by both countries, but the death of Kim on Dec. 17 and the announcement of his son Kim Jong Un as the country’s “supreme leader” has shifted the focus.
Noda, the first foreign leader to meet with China’s leaders since Kim’s death, emphasized the need to get stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program back on track.
“Strengthening our countries’ relations is necessary in order to solve regional and global issues,” Noda said when he met President Hu Jintao on Monday, a day after holding talks with his counterpart, Wen Jiabao.
On Sunday, Noda pointed to the new situation in East Asia, saying “it is very timely to exchange views with the host of the six-party talks and the country with the most influence on North Korea,” referring to China.
His visit to China was planned before Kim’s death was announced Dec. 19.
When asked whether China could confirm that Kim Jong Un was in complete control of North Korea, Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Yutaka Yokoi would say only that Noda and Wen had discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula.
After meeting with Wen, Noda told reporters that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate to try to achieve stability on the peninsula.
“We shared the understanding that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and its peace and stability not only benefits Japan and China but serves the common interest of all neighboring countries,” said Noda.
Yokoi said that a Chinese leader has been invited to visit Japan in the first half of next year, but would not say who.
Japan does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, while China is the impoverished country’s most important supporter and supplies it with food aid and much of its energy resources.
The six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States and Russia, as well as China and Japan, are aimed at disarming North Korea of its nuclear capability. Pyongyang walked out on the talks in 2009 — and exploded a second nuclear-test device — but now wants to re-engage.
Last year, North Korea was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.
Yokoi said China would consider Noda’s request to lease pandas for a zoo in Sendai to help cheer up the northern Japanese region as it recovers from the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March.
Noda and Wen noted that 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between their countries and said both nations want to improve relations to mark that occasion.
Officials from both countries also signed memorandums of understanding on youth exchanges and setting up a clean energy and environmental protection investment fund.
Japan and China have a list of sensitive topics they are trying to make progress on, including fights over islands and energy disputes in the East China Sea.
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Associated Press writers Gillian Wong in Beijing and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Sunday that he and his Chinese counterpart have agreed to work together in dealing with North Korea and promoting stability in the closed country after the death of longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
Noda’s first official visit to Beijing would normally have centered on bilateral issues, such as squabbles over islands claimed by both countries, but the death of Kim on Dec. 17 and the announcement of his son Kim Jong Un as the country’s “supreme leader” has shifted the focus.
Noda, the first foreign leader to meet with China’s leaders since Kim’s death, emphasized the need to get stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program back on track.
“We are currently facing a new situation in East Asia,” Noda told reporters after mentioning Kim’s death.
“On this issue, it is very timely to exchange views with the host of the six-party talks and the country with the most influence on North Korea,” he said, referring to China. “Safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula is in the common interest of our two countries.”
Noda was speaking before meeting with his counterpart, Wen Jiabao. He meets with President Hu Jintao on Monday before returning home. His visit to China was planned before Kim’s death was announced Dec. 19.
When asked whether China could confirm that Kim Jong Un was in complete control of North Korea, Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Yutaka Yokoi would only say that Noda and Wen had discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula.
After meeting with Wen, Noda told reporters that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate to try to achieve stability on the peninsula.
“We shared the understanding that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and its peace and stability not only benefits Japan and China but serves the common interest of all neighboring countries,” he said.
Noda, who came to power in September, met with Hu in November on the sidelines of an Asian-Pacific regional meeting in Hawaii. Yokoi said that a Chinese leader has been invited to visit Japan in the first half of next year, but would not say who.
Japan does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, while China is the impoverished country’s most important supporter and supplies it with food aid and much of its energy resources.
The six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States and Russia, as well as China and Japan, are aimed at disarming North Korea of its nuclear capability. Pyongyang walked out on the talks in 2009 — and exploded a second nuclear-test device — but now wants to re-engage.
Last year, North Korea was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.
Yokoi said China would sincerely consider Noda’s request to lease pandas for a zoo in Sendai to help cheer up the northern Japanese region as it recovers from the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March.
Japan and China have a list of sensitive topics they are trying to make progress on, including fights over islands and energy disputes in the East China Sea.
Noda and Wen noted that 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between their countries, and said both nations want to improve relations to mark that occasion.
Officials from both countries also signed memorandums of understanding on youth exchanges and setting up a clean energy and environmental protection investment fund.
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Associated Press writers Gillian Wong in Beijing and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reached out Sunday for China’s help on dealing with North Korea and promoting stability in the closed country after the death of longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
Noda’s first official visit to Beijing would normally have centered on bilateral issues, such as squabbles over islands claimed by both countries, but the death of Kim on Dec. 17 and the announcement of his son Kim Jong Un as the country’s “supreme leader” has shifted the focus.
Noda, the first foreign leader to meet with China’s leaders since Kim’s death, emphasized the need to get stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program back on track.
“We are currently facing a new situation in East Asia,” Noda told reporters after mentioning Kim’s death.
“On this issue, it is very timely to exchange views with the host of the six-party talks and the country with the most influence on North Korea,” he said, referring to China. “Safeguarding the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula is in the common interest of our two countries.”
Noda was speaking before meeting with his counterpart, Wen Jiabao. He meets with President Hu Jintao on Monday before returning home. His visit to China was planned before Kim’s death was announced Dec. 19.
The six-party talks, which also include the two Koreas, the United States and Russia, are aimed at disarming North Korea of its nuclear capability. Pyongyang walked out on the talks in 2009 — and exploded a second nuclear-test device — but now wants to re-engage.
Last year, Pyongyang was blamed for two military attacks on South Korea that heightened tensions on the peninsula.
Noda, who came to power in September, met with Hu in November on the sidelines of an Asian-Pacific regional meeting in Hawaii.
Japan does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, while China is the impoverished country’s most important supporter and supplies it with food aid and much of its energy resources.
Noda also is expected to discuss the possibility of renting pandas for a zoo in Sendai to help cheer up the northern Japanese region as it recovers from the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March.
Japan and China have a list of sensitive topics they are trying to make progress on, including fights over islands and energy disputes in the East China Sea, and the recent arrests of Chinese fishermen Japan says have been illegally fishing in its waters.
Noda and Wen noted that 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between their countries, and said both nations want to improve relations to mark that occasion.
Officials from both countries also signed memorandums of understanding on youth exchanges and setting up a clean energy and environmental protection investment fund.
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Associated Press writers Gillian Wong in Beijing and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, center right, is escorted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to inspect a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Noda arrived in Beijing on Sunday for talks focused on North Korea and promoting stability in the closed country after the death of Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)(Credit: AP) 
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, center right, is escorted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to inspect a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. Noda arrived in Beijing on Sunday for talks focused on North Korea and promoting stability in the closed country after the death of Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)(Credit: AP) 