US says dissident Chen offered university fellowship
A handout photo from the US Embassy Beijing Press office showing Chen speaking on the phone in Beijing, May 2, 2012. — Reuters supplied picBEIJING, May 4 — The United States said today that it expected the Chinese government to quickly deal with an application by dissident Chen Guangcheng to travel abroad, whose case has tested relations between the world’s two largest economies.
“Mr. Chen has been offered a fellowship from an American university, where he can be accompanied by his wife and two children,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
“The Chinese Government has indicated that it will accept Mr Chen’s applications for appropriate travel documents,” she said. “The United States government expects that the Chinese government will expeditiously process his applications for these documents, and make accommodations for his current medical condition.
“The United States government would then give visa requests for him and his immediate family priority attention.” — Reuters
