In this photo released by the US Embassy Beijing Press Office, family members of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, wife Yuan Weijing, back row second right, daughter Chen Kesi, front row center, and son Chen Kerui, front row left, pose for photo with U.S. officials in Beijing, Wednesday, May 2, 2012. With the family are U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke, crouching, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, back row second left, and U.S. State Department legal advisor Harold Koh, right. At left is not identified. (AP Photo/U.S. Embassy Beijing Press Office, HO)GILLIAN WONG and MATTHEW LEE
BEIJING (AP) – The U.S. and China forged the outlines of a deal Friday to end a diplomatic standoff over legal activist Chen Guangcheng that would let him travel to the U.S. with his family for a university fellowship.
After days of behind-the-scenes talks, reversals and emotional calls by Chen from a guarded hospital room, the U.S. and China made a series of announcements signaling a logjam had been broken.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Chen may apply for travel permits to study abroad. An American University has offered Chen a fellowship with provisions for his family, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding that the U.S. expects Beijing to quickly process their travel permits, after which U.S. visas would be granted.
“Over the course of the day, progress has been made to help him have the future that he wants, and we will be staying in touch with him as this process moves forward,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said speaking to reporters after two days of annual strategic talks in Beijing.