Saturday, May 19, 2012

Blind Chinese activist Chen arrives in US

By NBC News

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng arrived in the United States on Saturday after China allowed him to leave a hospital in Beijing in a move that could end a diplomatic tussle between the two countries, NBC News reported. 

Chen's escape from house arrest in northeastern China last month and subsequent stay in the U.S. Embassy was a huge embarrassment for China and led to a diplomatic rift while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting Beijing for talks to improve ties between the world's two biggest economies.


A United Airlines plane carrying Chen, his wife and two children, landed in at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, said NBC News' Bo Gu, who was on board the flight.

Chen was then due to travel to New York University in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood. Chen, one of China's most prominent dissidents, is going to study as a fellow at the NYU School of Law, the institution said Saturday. 

Earlier: Blind Chinese activist Chen leaves Beijing on flight to US 

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