FOXNews.com: China Wants US Apology Over Activist

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China Wants US Apology Over Activist May 2nd 2012, 12:58 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials staunchly defended sheltering an escaped Chinese activist at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, as the dissident left Wednesday for medical treatment and as China demanded a U.S. apology.  Clinton, in a written statement, said she was "pleased" that the United States was able to arrange for activist Chen Guangcheng's "stay and departure from the U.S. Embassy in a way that reflected his choices and our values."  U.S. officials had been virtually silent on the issue until early Wednesday, when U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke escorted Chen out of the embassy to the Chaoyang Hospital, where he was to receive medical care. Chen supposedly has received "assurances" about his safety from the Chinese government.  At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded a U.S. apology for the intervention -- calling on the United States to investigate how Chen got into the embassy and hold those responsible accountable.  "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 agency.  But senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters said Wednesday that the U.S. actions were "lawful."  They said Chen entered the embassy under exceptional circumstances last week, requesting medical treatment for a foot injury he sustained after escaping house arrest.  Asked about China's call to apologize, the officials gave no indication that an apology would be forthcoming. "This was an extraordinary case involving exceptional circumstance, we do not anticipate that it will be repeated," an official said.  Clinton further said that Chen has a "number of understandings" with the Chinese government, including a chance to pursue a higher education -- she said that "making these commitments a reality is the next crucial task."  "The United States government and the American people are committed to remaining engaged with Mr. Chen and his family in the days, weeks, and years ahead," she said.  Chen, who ran afoul of local government officials for exposing forced abortions, escaped from 20 months of home detention last week, fleeing into U.S. hands and setting up the most delicate diplomatic crisis in years for the two governments.  The apparent resolution shelves, at least for now, a predicament that threatened to move human rights to the front of a U.S.-China agenda crowded with disagreements over trade imbalances, North Korea and Syria.  With Chen out of the way, Clinton, Treasury Secretary Geithner and their Chinese counterparts can focus on the original purpose of their two-day talks starting Thursday: building trust between the world's superpower and its up-and-coming rival.  However, leaving Chen is risky for President Obama because Washington will now be seen as party to an agreement on Chen's safety that it does not have the power to enforce.  In the embassy, Chen did not request safe passage out of China or asylum in the U.S., a U.S. official said.  Chen served four years in prison and was then kept under house arrest with his wife, daughter and mother, with the adults often being roughed up by officials and his daughter searched and harassed. His dogged pursuit of justice and the mistreatment of him by authorities brought him attention from the U.S. and foreign governments and earned him supporters among many ordinary Chinese.  Negotiations over Chen's fate also had likely considered options such as him going to the U.S.  In a video statement he recorded while in hiding last week, Chen demanded that the Chinese government guarantee his family's safety. He told fellow activists that his preferred option was to stay in China and continue his legal advocacy as long as his family is safe.  Aside from his wife, daughter and mother, other family members remain at risk. Chen's elder brother, Guangfu, was detained Thursday after officials discovered the activist missing. A nephew, Kegui, was wanted for injuring local officials when he fought back during a raid, though his whereabouts Wednesday were not known, said Liu Weiguo, a lawyer who volunteered to defend him.  Though Chen's mistreatment has largely been seen as the work of vengeful local officials, he slipped away from one house arrest in 2005 only to be grabbed in Beijing and sent back.  Mishandling the situation would leave Obama open to attacks from his presumed Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, in what is shaping up to be a tough re-election campaign.  Romney and several Republican lawmakers already have demanded that Obama not back down to Beijing. Handing over Chen without adequate safeguards would also draw intense criticism from the human rights community in the United States, one of Obama's core constituencies.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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