BEIJING (AP) - A blind Chinese legal activist who was suddenly
allowed to leave the country has arrived in the United States.
Chen Guangcheng (chuhn gwahng-chuhng) was accompanied by his
wife and two children Saturday evening at Newark Liberty
International Airport, outside New York City. He had been hurriedly
taken from a Chinese hospital hours earlier and put on a plane
after authorities told him to prepare to leave.
After seven years of prison and house arrest, Chen escaped from
his village in April and was given sanctuary inside the U.S.
Embassy. Officials struck a deal that let Chen walk free, but he
had second thoughts. That forced new negotiations that led to an
agreement to send him to the U.S. to study law at New York
University.
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