A kínai jogvédő menedékkérelme feszültséget okoz Ameruka és Kína között

2012. május 3./Reuters/Tibet Sun/TibetPress

Jelenleg csak angolul olvasható. Magyarul később.

By Chris Buckley and Andrew Quinn

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng appealed on Thursday for asylum in the United States, throwing into doubt an agreement used to coax him out of hiding in the US Embassy in Beijing and fanning US-China tensions at a sensitive time.

The standoff appears particularly troublesome for the Obama administration, with Chen saying he now fears for his and his family’s safety if he stays in China, as was planned under the deal that Washington called a good outcome for the dissident.

China’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Chen’s request to leave the country and repeated its criticism of the way the United States had handled the issue as “unacceptable”.

Chen, a self-taught legal activist, left the US Embassy on Wednesday and is now under Chinese control in a Beijing hospital. He had taken refuge at the US mission for six days after escaping house arrest and left after US officials assured him that Beijing had promised to improve his circumstances.

But Chen said on Thursday by telephone from hospital, where he was escorted by US officials and was being treated for a broken foot, that he had changed his mind after speaking to his wife who spoke of recent threats made against his family.

“I feel very unsafe. My rights and safety cannot be assured here,” he said. His family, who were with him at the hospital, backed his decision to try to reach the United States, he added.

The activist, citing descriptions from his wife, Yuan Weijing, said his family had been surrounded by Chinese officials who menaced them and filled the family home. Chen, from a village in rural Shandong province, has two children.

“When I was inside the American Embassy, I didn’t have my family, and so I didn’t understand some things. After I was able to meet them, my ideas changed.”

A senior US official later said the United States was seeking to clarify Chen’s wishes and continued to discuss his fate with the Chinese government.

“When we feel that we have a clear view of what his final decision is, we will do what we can to help him achieve that,” the official said.

The timing of the Chen case comes at a fragile time for both nations: US President Barack Obama will be sensitive to any criticism of the handling of Chen in the run-up to a November presidential election and China is struggling to push through its own leadership change late this year.