On Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the U.S. to adopt new measures to prevent Chinese citizens from seeking shelter at U.S. diplomatic missions.

Activist Says Plan to Leave China Still Faces Barriers

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By BRIAN SPEGELE

Chen Guangcheng is still in the hospital in Beijing as the U.S. and China negotiate his departure. The WSJ's Deborah Kan speaks to Bob Fu, founder of China Aid and an adviser to Mr. Chen, on what's next for the activist.

BEIJING—Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said he remains hopeful that he can leave China for the U.S. under a recent deal between Washington and Beijing, but he said barriers remain before the two sides can fully defuse their sticky diplomatic situation.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. Chen said both the U.S. and the Chinese central government have shown patience as they move to implement a deal that would allow him to study abroad at New York University. "I'm very thankful for the U.S. government for helping me in this period," he said. "I'm also very thankful to the [Chinese] central government for its calm and restraint during this episode."

Chen's Uncertain Future

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U.S. Embassy Beijing Press Office via Reuters

Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, right, and Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China, center, escorted Mr. Chen as he left the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on May 2.

But Mr. Chen said he still lacks a passport and has heard little in the way of progress in implementing a deal since the two sides said on Friday that he could study abroad. "Right now, there's no progress," he said, adding "I can't predict what sort of problems I might encounter."
The slow progress helps illustrate the complexity of resolving a case that drew world-wide attention after Mr. Chen eluded the guards surrounding his home in China's eastern Shandong province who have kept him under virtual house arrest for the past 19 months. He eventually sought shelter at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he stayed for six days. The incident sparked a series of tense days and negotiations between the U.S. and China ahead of and during bilateral talks that included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Enemies of the State

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Some notable Chinese dissidents.

Some tensions linger. On Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the U.S. to adopt new measures to prevent Chinese citizens from seeking shelter at U.S. diplomatic missions.
Also on Monday, two people familiar with the matter said that police had apprehended Mr. Chen's nephew, Chen Kegui. Chen Kegui had been on the run from police after local authorities in Shandong issued a statement saying he had attacked officials with a knife. Chen Kegui said he had defended himself from men who had broken into his house while looking for his uncle, according to a person who had spoken with the family.
The concern comes amid broader worries over potential retaliation against Mr. Chen's associates and fellow activists.
"I don't know about much of what's happening with my other family members in Shandong," he said. "I've just heard that Chen Kegui is in a bad spot."

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Local police officials near Chen Guangcheng's home in eastern Shandong province, said they were unaware of the matter.
Chinese officials over the past several days have released activists who were believed to have helped Mr. Chen escape from authorities on April 22 or spoke with him after his escape. Activists have said they were treated humanely as officials asked them how Mr. Chen escaped. Still, the scrutiny has put pressure on activists, who in recent days have moved to keep a lower profile because they say they remain under watch by authorities.
Mr. Chen also defended himself against critics in the state media who have accused him of being a pawn of the U.S. "I don't consider myself a pawn of the U.S.," he said. "I'm a Chinese person, but at a time when I couldn't be safe in China. I ran to the U.S. Embassy and was protected. That's how it is."
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing didn't respond to requests for comment.
A U.S. official said over the weekend that negotiations over Mr. Chen are now centered on procedural issues involved with Mr. Chen's traveling to the U.S., such as obtaining travel documents for him and his family.
Mr. Chen said he has been speaking with an official from the Chinese government about a probe into his treatment by local authorities, who he targeted as part of his work fighting against forced abortions and sterilizations under the auspices of China's one-child policy.
Mr. Chen's case briefly became an embarrassment to the U.S. on Wednesday, when he left the protection of the U.S. embassy as part of a deal worked out by the two governments for him to stay in China. But he reversed course a few hours later as his worries grew about how his family would be treated in China.

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Associated Press

Petitioners seek to draw attention to their cases outside the Beijing hospital where Chen is staying Monday.

"First, I believed they would implement the deal," he said. "Second, I heard if I didn't leave they would threaten my family." He added that he was confident that "the embassy wouldn't have tossed me out," despite accusations from human-rights groups that the U.S. wanted to strike a deal before Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Geithner's visit.
Mr. Chen, who spoke from a hospital in Beijing, said the leg he injured during his escape is still in a cast.
In the past, foreign nationals have been granted safe haven in U.S. missions in part due to concerns they would face persecution if returned to local authorities. Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi stayed in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for more than a year after the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, before being allowed to leave for the U.S.
—Loretta Chao contributed to this article. Corrections & Amplifications
Chen Guangcheng's name was misspelled as Gaungcheng in an earlier version of this article.

A version of this article appeared May 8, 2012, on page A14 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Activist Says Plan to Leave China Still Faces Barriers.