Friday, May 4, 2012

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05/04/2012

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China says blind activist Chen can apply to study abroad

Updated 19m ago
BEIJING (AP) – China said Friday that a blind rural activist who has pleaded for U.S. sanctuary can apply to study abroad, possibly opening the door to resolving a diplomatic standoff with the United States.
  • Handout via Getty Images
    In this handout photograph provided by the U.S. Embassy press office, Chen Guangcheng holds hands Wednesday with U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, right, in Beijing.
Handout via Getty Images
In this handout photograph provided by the U.S. Embassy press office, Chen Guangcheng holds hands Wednesday with U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, right, in Beijing.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website that Chen Guangcheng would be allowed to apply to study overseas, although it did not immediately give details.
Chen is seeking U.S. help to leave the country after he fled house arrest and sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy. He is now being treated at a hospital, under a Chinese police cordon, while the two countries discuss his case.
"Chen Guangcheng is currently being treated in hospital. As a Chinese citizen, if he wants to study abroad he can go through the normal channels to the relevant departments and complete the formalities in accordance with the law like other Chinese citizens," the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry statement was the most positive response so far from the Chinese side. It was in contrast to earlier comments from the ministry, which had demanded the apologize for giving Chen sanctuary at the embassy.
There was no immediate comment from Chen or the U.S.
The statement came shortly after Chen told the Associated Press that he felt his situation was "dangerous," and complained that American officials have been blocked from seeing him for two days and friends who have tried to visit have been beaten up.
Chen sounded anxious as he spoke by telephone from his hospital bed Friday, saying he was very worried about his safety.
"I can only tell you one thing. My situation right now is very dangerous," Chen said. "For two days, American officials who have wanted to come and see me have not been allowed in."
On Thursday, Chen voiced confidence in an agreement that was brokered by the United States before he left the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday.
"I am not disappointed in the U.S. government. They made such a great effort," he said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. "I am very grateful. It was under their great efforts that I got this important agreement."
Chen said he spoke to American officials by phone on Friday, twice, "but the calls keep getting cut off after two sentences." A senior U.S. official said U.S. Embassy personnel also met Chen's wife in person.
Chen last week escaped his rural home where local officials had kept him under house arrest for years. He made it to the U.S. Embassy, where he stayed for six days before the U.S. and China reached a deal that would allow him to stay in China but in a new location, as he had requested. But hours after leaving the embassy Wednesday he said he and his family would not be safe unless they left the country.
A self-taught lawyer, the 40-year-old Chen became an international human rights figure and inspiration to many ordinary Chinese after running afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations carried out as part of China's one-child policy. Until his escape last week, his nearly seven years in prison and abusive house arrest with his wife, 6-year-old daughter and mother fueled outrage and added to his stature — and in turn upped the stakes for Washington in helping him.
Chen said throughout his stay at the U.S. Embassy that his desire was to remain in China with his family, and U.S. diplomats said that was their goal in negotiations with Chinese officials.
After several days of talks, U.S. officials said they extracted a guarantee that Chen would be relocated outside his home province to a university town where he could formally study law. U.S. officials said they would periodically monitor his situation, though they did not specify how.
But hours after a gleeful Chen left the U.S. compound, he changed his mind, driven in part by his wife's tales of abuse and retribution in the days after Chen managed to escape from his rural farmhouse. Chen also said he felt abandoned by the U.S., finding no embassy staff at the hospital to assure his protection.
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Posted 31m ago | Updated 19m ago
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U.S. Department of State - Great Seal

Remarks at U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Opening Session


Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Diaoyutai Villa 17
Beijing, China
May 3, 2012

(In progress) – Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and I know that both Secretary Geithner and I greatly appreciate all the work done by both of our delegations and the months of preparation for this meeting. I’ve read readings from President Obama and a letter from him expressing how important the Strategic and Economic Dialogue is to the U.S.-China relationship and how important this relationship is to the United States. As President Obama says, the United States remains committed to building a cooperative partnership based on mutual benefit and mutual respect. Since we launched this dialogue three years ago, high-ranking officials from both our governments have criss-crossed the Pacific dozens of times. Our relationship has grown closer and more consequential, and the web of connections that link our nations is increasing.
As a result, this dialogue is even more necessary today than it was when it began, and the eyes of the world are once again upon us. The Chinese people and the American people looking for us to work together for their benefit, and the international community looking to us to work together for the world’s benefit; in today’s world, no global player can afford to treat geopolitics as a zero-sum game, so we are working to build a relationship that allows both of our countries to flourish without unhealthy competition or conflict, while at the same time meeting our responsibilities to our people and to the international community.
We both know that we have to get this right because so much depends upon it. We also both know that our countries have become thoroughly, inescapably interdependent. As President Obama and I have said many times, the United States believes that a thriving China is good for America, and a thriving America is good for China. So we have a strong interest in China’s continued economic growth and if China’s rising capabilities means that we have an increasingly able and engaged partner in solving the threats we face to both regional and global security, that is all good.
Now, having said that, we understand too that building a cooperative, resilient, mutually beneficial relationship is not easy. That’s why this dialogue is so critical as well as the Strategic Security Dialogue that took place here yesterday. We are discussing how the talks are opening economic activity to advance prosperity, support innovation, and improve the lives of people, how to promote greater military transparency to avoid misunderstandings, to build trust and maintain mutual stability, how to tackle some of the world’s most urgent crises from climate change to proliferation.
The United States welcomes China’s increased engagement on the highest priority regional and global issues, and in our strategic track, we will be discussing these. For example, on Iran, the United States and China share the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And we had a productive first meeting as members of the P-5+1 in Istanbul, and are looking forward to the next meeting in Baghdad because we both understand it is critical to keep pressure on Iran to meet its international obligations, to negotiate seriously, and prove that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
In Syria, we are absolutely committed to end the brutal violence against civilians, and therefore, it is essential that the international community work together to hold the regime and the others involved in violence accountable, because regrettably, the Security Council on which we both serve as current members is at stake.
Regarding North Korea, the missile launch seems to suggest that Pyongyang actually used improved relations with the outside world not a goal, but as a threat. And we recognize the role that China is playing and are continuing to work together to make it clear to North Korea that strength and security will come from prioritizing the needs of its people, not from further provocation.
In Sudan and South Sudan, China and the United States are working together. In fact, with me today is the U.S. special envoy to Sudan who is in regular contact with the Chinese special representative for Africa. And I’m pleased that China and the United States joined with a unified international community just hours ago to support a strong UN security resolution that provides unambiguous support for the African Union roadmap.
Our countries are addressing everything from cyber security to the changes and reforms going on in Burma to piracy and so much else, because we know that we are working to better the lives of our people and a better future for all humanity. Now of course, as part of our dialogue, the United States raises the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms because we believe that all governments do have to answer to citizens’ aspirations for dignity and the rule of law, and that no nation can or should deny those rights.
As President Obama said this week, a China that protects the rights of all its citizens will be a stronger and more prosperous nation, and of course, a stronger partner on behalf of our common goals. The conversations we have here in Beijing reflect how much the U.S.-China relationship has grown in the 40 years since President Nixon came to China. Then, we had hardly any ties to speak of; now, we work together. I think it’s fair to say China and the United States cannot solve all the problems of the world, but without our cooperation, it is doubtful any problem can be solved. And so we are working as we go forward with our dialogue, seeking opportunities for engagement, building ties that are not only between governments but family, friends, entrepreneurs, students, scholars, artists, and so much else.
Tomorrow, I will attend the annual meeting of U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchanges, and we will discuss the progress we’re making, including for our 100000 Strong Education Initiative that will increase significantly the numbers and diversity of American students studying in China.
So I wish to thank our hosts for their gracious hospitality once again, and pledge that we will continue to work together in a true spirit of partnership and mutual respect for the mutual benefit of our two nations. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
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Opinion | Columnists


Keeping the US-China peace

Visionary statecraft will be needed so that today's woes do not damage future workings of Group of Two
  • By William Pesek
  • Published: 00:00 May 4, 2012
  • Gulf News
Hillary Clinton's Beijing agenda is growing longer and more daunting by the minute. Everywhere the US secretary of state looks in today's China-US relationship, tensions that might unnerve markets or fracture strategic relationships stare back at her. Strains were building even before blind activist Chen Guangcheng reportedly took shelter in the US Embassy in Beijing after a bold escape from house arrest. Finessing the US's role in the scandal surrounding ousted Communist Party Politburo member Bo Xilai and his family would have been challenge enough for Clinton's team. The same goes for China's early support for the brutal Bashar Al Assad regime in Syria, the US sale of F-16s to Taiwan, disputes over Iran, America's embrace of Myanmar and Beijing's military ambitions. Then there are the formidable challenges facing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is accompanying Clinton for the talks which end today: currencies, intellectual property rights, trade and investment. The world's most-vital economic relationship hasn't been this fraught with potential conflicts and points of disagreement in years. It will take deft and visionary statecraft to keep today's headaches from damaging the future workings of the so-called Group of Two. Financial markets are used to Washington and Beijing finding areas of agreement and downplaying the yawning divides between their economic demands and aspirations. The political climate limits the manoeuvring room for leadership in both countries. This year's US presidential election coincides with the expected ascent of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping as the replacement for Hu Jintao. Xi won't enjoy the honeymoon typically afforded new presidents. Not with his economy slowing, China's rich-poor gap widening and the Communist Party beset by the biggest challenge to its legitimacy since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The state of economy is paramount to China's leaders. Yet China is feeling the strain of a world economy in turmoil at a time when its leaders fear an Arab Spring-like uprising at home. The benefits of the hundreds of billions of dollars China tossed at the economy since 2008 have worn off. All that's left now are asset bubbles, debt and several hundred million people wondering why incomes aren't rising faster than living costs. The easiest remedy would be devaluing the yuan anew to boost exports. Doing that would antagonise President Barack Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, but China may decide the end justifies the means.
Article continues below
The same goes for the piracy that so angers the Walt Disneys and Apples of the world. For better or worse, selling fake DVDs, sneakers and electronics creates jobs. So does bending the World Trade Organisation to China's benefit at the expense of everyone else. Anyone who thinks Beijing and Washington will see eye to eye on these and other issues is in denial. China knows that, barring a major crash, it's destined to surpass the US economy the way it overtook Japan. Europe, after all, is turning to China to bail out its failed single-currency experiment. Beijing also knows what the US has been slow to grasp: American soft power is waning. Foreign meddling Few countries aspire to the US model of capitalism after the demise of Lehman Brothers, and the shame of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, undermines any claim to moral high ground. Chinese tolerance for lectures from Americans on free markets and human rights is low. That goes for the dollar, too. China sees Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's ultralow interest rates as a de facto devaluation. That suspicion weakens US argument for China to revalue. It also touches on the prickly topic of China's vast dollar holdings. The US currency is a crucial component of China's $3.3 trillion (Dh12.11 trillion) of reserves. Anything that depresses the dollar will enrage China. Yet China's fragility was very much on display this week. The Chen story may get the most headlines. China abhors anything it perceives to be foreign meddling in its affairs. Reports that the US was sheltering the human-rights activist must have Beijing powerbrokers doing back flips. The real fireworks, though, may involve the spectacular fall of former Chongqing bigwig Bo. The US was drawn into a sordid tale that involves allegations of corruption, greed, murder and wiretapping of top officials. The story spun out of Beijing's control and made headlines worldwide when Bo's former police chief sought asylum in a US consulate while claiming that Bo's wife was involved in killing a British businessman. China is abuzz with conspiracy theories about a US campaign to foment discord. This scandal is nothing short of a political earthquake. The importance of maintaining constructive US-China relations is lost on no one. The G-2 is the linchpin of an unsteady world economy, and keeping the peace is vital to averting financial upheaval and restoring growth. Yet Clinton, Geithner and their Chinese counterparts may find that ensuring the status quo is beyond their grasp. — Washington Post William Pesek is a Bloomberg View columnist.

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