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Deal nears on China activist Chen as US offers college fellowship

For video go here http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/04/11533758-deal-nears-on-china-activist-chen-as-us-offers-college-fellowship?lite

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to speak out about Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident who is seeking to travel to the United States. NBC's Ian Williams reports.

By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

Updated 08:31 a.m. ET: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "progress had been made" on a deal over the future of Chen Guangcheng, telling reporters in Beijing she was encouraged by China's suggestions that the blind activist might be allowed to study abroad.

After she spoke, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told Reuters that Chen had been offered a fellowship from an American university, where he could be accompanied by his wife and two children.

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"The Chinese Government has indicated that it will accept Mr. Chen's applications for appropriate travel documents. 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," she added.

"The United States government would then give visa requests for him and his immediate family priority attention," Nuland said.

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Romney Blasts Barack Hussein Obama over Chen and Embassy another Globalists n Chief in the making?

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A Chinese dissident blind no less is lost after leaving the US Embassy. Are we beating the drums of war? Hell yes they are! IMV We are in no position to lean on China in this way nor North Korea for that matter. I recently watched a documentary on the Korean War, this past weekend and believe me we do not want to get our as$es kicked like that again. Are we sure we want another NWO Globalist in charge of our country? I am not so sure we do and know our youth aren't ready to go to war with China, just yet.

We have had ten years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our troops are weary and under supplied now. So we are saber rattling why? With Russia too it appears these countries see us in our weakened state, both financially and leader wise. I feel they are doing more than testing the waters.

Anyways I don't think Romney, is the ONE. We need to worry about our own house help our residents and protect our own freedoms first and foremost. This is all "Wag the Dog" bluster at this point, Americans please do not be fooled by these charades.

Jim

May 3, 2012 2:28 PM

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Romney blasts Obama administration's handling of Chinese dissident case

By

Sarah Huisenga

Topics

Campaign 2012

UPDATED 9:48 p.m. ET http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57427319-503544/romney-blasts-obama-administrations-handling-of-chinese-dissident-case/

(CBS News) PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- The State Department's handling of the situation involving blind Chinese dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng is "a day of shame for the Obama administration," GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney charged on Thursday.

Chen drew worldwide attention with his daring escape from his home last month. He reportedly had embraced a plan to remain in China, and left the U.S. Embassy there after American and Chinese authorities worked out a potential deal. But in recent days he has told reporters that he and his family feel insecure in the hands of Chinese authorities, and that he would like to go to the United States.

The incident has threatened to overwhelm a visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had hoped to focus on economic issues instead of thorny human rights concerns with the Chinese. It also threatens to undermine the confident image on foreign policy that Obama has sought to project with the one-year annivesary of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Romney, in a speech in Portsmouth, accused the administration of seeking to hasten Chen's departure from the embassy placing economic concerns above Chen's freedom.

"The reports are, if they are accurate, that our administration, willingly or unwittingly communicated to Chen an implicit threat to his family, and also probably sped up, or may have sped up the process of his decision to leave the embassy because they wanted to move on to a series of discussions that Mr. Geithner and our secretary of state are planning to have with China," Romney said.

"It's also apparent according to these reports, if they are accurate, that our embassy failed to put in place the kind of verifiable measures that would ensure the safety of Mr. Chen and his family," Romney added. "If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom. And it's a day of shame for the Obama administration. We are a place of freedom here and around the world, and we should stand up and defend freedom wherever it is under attack."

During the White House briefing on Thursday, press secretary Jay Carney defended the administration's handling of the dissident's situation based on his originally stated desire to remain in China.

"Acting on his desires, State Department officials had conversations with Chinese officials to try to achieve that," Carney said. "U.S. officials and State Department officials made clear to the Chinese that we would, in the implementation of this agreement, continue to monitor Mr. Chen's case."

Carney avoided commenting on new desires expressed by Chen to seek asylum in the United States, referring most questions from reporters to the State Department.

Obama reelection campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement, "Mitt Romney's attacks on America's policies abroad ring hollow ... He has no coherent foreign policy vision, no concrete plans to enhance our security and strengthen our alliances, and he has taken conflicting positions on every major foreign policy issue facing our nation."

Rebecca Kaplan contributed.

Published on May 5, 2012 by jackohoft