UPDATE at 8:20 am ET: The AP reports that Chen has secured a fellowship at a U.S. university and is expected to be permitted to travel soon.
By GILLIAN WONG and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press
BEIJING -- The U.S. and China made progress Friday in resolving a standoff over legal activist Chen Guangcheng "to help him have the future that he wants," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
Speaking to reporters after two-days of high-level talks in Beijing, Clinton said that the U.S. is encouraged by a Chinese government statement confirming that Chen may apply for permission to travel abroad for study.
"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," Clinton said in her first comments on Chen's case. "We are encouraged by progress that we have seen today, but there is more work to be done so we will stay engaged as this moves forward."
Clinton's assessment coupled with the Chinese statement were the first positive signs that the governments were nearing a deal on Chen and end one of their most delicate diplomatic crises in years.
A blind, self-taught lawyer and symbol in China's civil rights movement, Chen triggered a standoff after he escaped house arrest in his rural town and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy last week.
He left six days later under a negotiated deal in which he and his family were to be reunited at a hospital and then safely relocated in China so he can formally study law. But he then upended the agreement by saying they wanted to go abroad.
After arriving at Chaoyang Hospital on Wednesday, Chen said he had no further direct contact with U.S. officials for nearly two days, fueling a sense of abandonment and fears about the safety of him, his wife and children.
"I can only tell you one thing. My situation right now is very dangerous," Chen said told The Associated Press earlier Friday.
However, Clinton said that Ambassador Gary Locke spoke with Chen on Friday and that embassy staff and a doctor met him - further positive signs.
"He confirms that he and his family now want to go to the United States so that he can pursue his studies," Clinton said.
Chen's conversations with The Associated Press, other foreign media and friends have resonated around the world, and even become part of Washington politics in a presidential election year.
On Thursday, he called in to a congressional hearing in Washington, telling lawmakers he wanted to meet U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, who is in Beijing for annual security talks. "I hope I can get more help from her," Chen said.
The Foreign Ministry statement that said Chen was a normal citizen who may apply to study overseas.
"Chen Guangcheng is currently being treated in hospital. As a Chinese citizen, if he wants to study abroad he can go through the normal channels to the relevant departments and complete the formalities in accordance with the law like other Chinese citizens," the statement said without elaborating.
While the statement only reiterates the normal rights of a Chinese citizen, it underscored the government's openness to letting him go and gives shape to a possible solution: He goes abroad with the approval of the Chinese government, not the U.S., giving Beijing a face-saving way out.
Chen has a letter of invitation from New York University, according to Guo Yushan, a supporter who helped hide Chen in Beijing after his escape from house arrest, in a Twitter post early Friday.
At a Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesman Liu Weimin also confirmed that Chen faces no pending criminal charges, indirectly acknowledging that the house arrest he and his family endured the past 20 months in their rural home was the retribution of local officials for Chen's activism. Chen has exposed forced abortions and other abuses in his community as part of China's population controls.
"According to Chinese laws, he is a regular citizen. He can absolutely go through regular formalities by normal means," Liu said.
Obstacles remain. It isn't clear if Chen would have to return to his home province of Shandong to receive a passport, as is normal, and the statements do not mention his family. His wife was stopped in 2007 from traveling to the Philippines to pick up a humanitarian award for Chen while he was in prison.
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AP | By GILLIAN WONG and MATTHEW LEE Posted: 05/04/2012 4:58 am Updated: 05/05/2012 8:05 am