Chen Guangcheng flies out of China, headed for U.S.
Keith Richburg and William Wan,
BEIJING — Blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng, who emerged at the center of a diplomatic row between the United States and China, left Beijing on a United Airlines flight bound for Newark on Saturday afternoon after Chinese officials and American diplomats swiftly arranged his travel out of the country for an uncertain new life in the United States.
Chen, in a brief telephone interview with The Washington Post, said he still did not have a valid passport in hand when he received a call Saturday at the hospital where he has been staying from Chinese officials telling him to pack his belongings.
“They came to my ward suddenly at around 11 o’clock this morning,” Chen told The Post. “It’s a surprise.”
Chen said U.S. diplomats arrived at the airport around 2 p.m. Chen’s wife, Yuan Weijing, reached by telephone while waiting for the flight, said Chinese officials gave the family their passports after they arrived at the airport. U.S. diplomats readied the visa papers.
Speaking by phone from the airport earlier, Chen said, “I feel all sorts of emotions and feelings right now.”
Chen said the move was so sudden that he never had a chance to meet with his mother and other family members left behind in Linyi city, in Shandong province. He said he regretted that and called it “a pity.”
His wife also appeared to feel mixed emotions at the sudden departure. “We haven’t decided how long we want to stay in the U.S. We’ll see,” she said.
United Airlines Flight 88 to Newark took off almost two hours behind schedule. The delay was apparently caused by, among other things, a thunderstorm.
The State Department confirmed on Saturday morning that Chen, his wife and their two children were en route to the United States to pursue studies at an American university.
“We are looking forward to his arrival in the United States later today. We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr. Chen’s desire to study in the U.S. and pursue his goals,” the department said in a statement.
The news of Chen’s impending departure for the United States was first announced by Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, a Texas-based Christian rights group. Fu spoke with Chen on Saturday morning when he was being driven to the airport by Chinese officials.
“He was very excited and very glad to tell me. He said, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you,’ ” Fu said in an interview.
Chen has been offered a visiting fellowship at New York University.
Supporters of Chen in the United States have been preparing for his arrival. Fu and others have found guesthouses for Chen to stay in to recover after he lands in the United States, but he may travel first to NYU to register for classes or take care of school business.
They have also prepared a laptop installed with Chinese-language software for his wife to use.
Reached earlier this week, an NYU spokesperson said preparations were underway at the school, but declined to comment further.
Chen escaped from house arrest in Shandong province last month by scaling a high wall and fled to Beijing with the help of supporters. In Beijing, he stayed in the U.S. Embassy for several days before a deal was worked out ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that allowed him to be moved to a hospital for treatment. In a subsequent deal, China agreed to allow Chen to travel abroad to study.
Chen initially said he wanted to stay in China and continue his fight for human rights but changed his mind after speaking with his wife, who said she had been assaulted by local officials in Shandong after Chen fled. Although his wife was allowed to join him at the Beijing hospital, several members of his extended family were arrested or threatened by the local officials.
In an earlier interview on Friday, Chen expressed concern over the fate of his nephew, Chen Kegui, who has been arrested in Shandong and charged with attempted murder, for injuring three officials who stormed unannounced into his house in late April after Chen Guangcheng was discovered to have fled house arrest.
Chen Kegui had been prevented from hiring private lawyers to represent him in the case and was instead assigned two court-appointed government lawyers. Chen Guangcheng said he feared that the government-appointed lawyers would coerce his nephew into pleading guilty.
As Chen and his family waited at the airport, his wife expressed lingering concerns for the relatives left behind.
“The Chinese government so far is doing well,” Yuan said by telephone. “Of course, I have some worries about the investigation and the case of Chen Kegui. We’ll see what they do next.”
Wan reported from Washington. Staff researcher Zhang Jie in Beijing contributed to this report.