Beijing:
Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist at the centre of a diplomatic row, has said he wants to leave China on US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton's plane, a report said Thursday.
Mr Chen sought US protection after fleeing house arrest, but left the embassy on Wednesday when US officials said China had offered guarantees about his safety, and was taken to a hospital where he was reunited with his wife and children.
Since then, he has expressed concerns he and his family may be in danger, and said he now wants to leave China for the United States because he doesn't believe Beijing will keep its promise.
"My fervent hope is that it would be possible for me and my family to leave for the US on Hillary Clinton's plane," Mr Chen told the Daily Beast website, referring to the US Secretary of State, who is in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders.
Mr Chen told the Daily Beast he had expected US officials to remain with him at the Beijing hospital where he is receiving treatment for a broken foot sustained during his escape, but that he had been left alone there with his family.
"When I was brought to the hospital room, they all left. I don't know where they went," he said.
Mr Chen, who has been blind since childhood, also told his friend, the human rights lawyer Teng Biao, that embassy officials had left him at the hospital, according to a transcript posted on the website of activist group China Aid.
"Gary Locke, Campbell and the others took me to the hospital, but they have all left," he said, referring to US ambassador Locke and senior diplomat Kurt Campbell.
"By now, they haven't given us dinner yet. My children are starved and crying," he said of his treatment at the hospital.
Rights campaigners have expressed concern about Mr Chen, who has said he and his family were subjected to serial abuses in their hometown in eastern China while under house arrest.
Some say he only agreed to leave the embassy out of fear for his family's safety.
Asked by Mr Teng why he had left the embassy, Mr Chen replied that a government official told him by telephone that, if he did not, his wife and children would have to return to their home town, according to the transcript.
"Those who brought her here are still in this neighbourhood," the activist told Mr Teng.
The United States has denied putting pressure on Chen to leave the embassy.
But a statement by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that "if Chen elected to stay in the embassy, Chinese officials had indicated to us that his family would be returned to Shandong, and they would lose their opportunity to negotiate for reunification."
Mr Chen sought US protection after fleeing house arrest, but left the embassy on Wednesday when US officials said China had offered guarantees about his safety, and was taken to a hospital where he was reunited with his wife and children.
Since then, he has expressed concerns he and his family may be in danger, and said he now wants to leave China for the United States because he doesn't believe Beijing will keep its promise.
"My fervent hope is that it would be possible for me and my family to leave for the US on Hillary Clinton's plane," Mr Chen told the Daily Beast website, referring to the US Secretary of State, who is in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders.
Mr Chen told the Daily Beast he had expected US officials to remain with him at the Beijing hospital where he is receiving treatment for a broken foot sustained during his escape, but that he had been left alone there with his family.
"When I was brought to the hospital room, they all left. I don't know where they went," he said.
Mr Chen, who has been blind since childhood, also told his friend, the human rights lawyer Teng Biao, that embassy officials had left him at the hospital, according to a transcript posted on the website of activist group China Aid.
"Gary Locke, Campbell and the others took me to the hospital, but they have all left," he said, referring to US ambassador Locke and senior diplomat Kurt Campbell.
"By now, they haven't given us dinner yet. My children are starved and crying," he said of his treatment at the hospital.
Rights campaigners have expressed concern about Mr Chen, who has said he and his family were subjected to serial abuses in their hometown in eastern China while under house arrest.
Some say he only agreed to leave the embassy out of fear for his family's safety.
Asked by Mr Teng why he had left the embassy, Mr Chen replied that a government official told him by telephone that, if he did not, his wife and children would have to return to their home town, according to the transcript.
"Those who brought her here are still in this neighbourhood," the activist told Mr Teng.
The United States has denied putting pressure on Chen to leave the embassy.
But a statement by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that "if Chen elected to stay in the embassy, Chinese officials had indicated to us that his family would be returned to Shandong, and they would lose their opportunity to negotiate for reunification."
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