Chinese Dissident Chen Guangcheng Now Wants to Leave the Country

The Takeaway

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman confirms this morning that activist Chen Guangcheng wants to leave China with his family. The decision comes after a week of diplomatic wrangling over the fate of the blind activist who had escaped house arrest and fled to Beijing.
It was believed that Chen’s security was confirmed after he was released from the embassy in Beijing. But there have been conflicting reports about how his family are being treated during the negotiations.
Our partner the BBC is reporting that the dissident has asked to leave China on the same plane as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is in Beijing for high level talks. Joining us is Mickey Bristow, Beijing Correspondent for the BBC.

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