| State Department Denies it Conveyed Threats To Blind Chinese Activist |
| May-02-2012 |
| Keywords: state deparment, threats, chinese activist, blind, china |
Blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, left the U.S. Embassy in Beijing today for medical treatment. But almost immediately after leaving the embassy, where he'd sought refuge since last week, reports surfaced that he'd been coerced into leaving the U.S. Embassy. The coercion came in the form of threats to the safety of his family.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Chen reportedly said U.S. officials told him Chinese authorities would send his family back home if he stayed inside. He added that, at one point, the U.S. officials told him his wife would be beaten to death.
"They said if I don't leave they would take my children and family back to Shandong," Chen told The Associated Press. He said he heard the death threat from an American official whom he could not identify.
The U.S. State Department today is denying it relayed the threats to the blind activist.
"At no time did any U.S. official speak to (Chen Guangcheng) about physical or legal threats to his wife and children."
Under the apparent agreement that ended the fraught, behind-the-scenes standoff, U.S. officials said China agreed to let Chen and his family be relocated to a safe place in China where he could study at university, and that his treatment by local officials would be investigated.
Clinton, in a written statement, said she was "pleased" that the United States was able to arrange for activist Chen's "stay and departure from the U.S. Embassy in a way that reflected his choices and our values."
At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded a U.S. apology for the intervention. "What the U.S. side has done has interfered in the domestic affairs of China, and the Chinese side will never accept it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told China's official Xinhua news agenc
Read more on FOXNews.com: Chinese activist claims death threat against family, US officials dispute account |
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