[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60344000/jpg/_60344266_014769049-1.jpg[/IMG]
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng - who was at the center of a diplomatic crisis with the US - says he is at Beijing's airport, where he expects to leave to go to the US.
The blind activist told reporters he did not have a passport, but believed he was going to New York.
Mr Chen recently spent six days in the US embassy in Beijing after escaping house arrest in north-east China.
He wants to leave China and has been offered a place at New York university.
Chen Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who campaigned against forced abortions under China's one-child policy, was jailed for four years in 2006 for disrupting traffic and damaging property, and placed under house arrest after his release in 2010.
'Pack up'
On Saturday the US activist group China Aid, which has supported Mr Chen, said he had told the group that he and his family were heading to Beijing airport.
Mr Chen and his family "were informed to pack up and get ready to leave China" for the US, China Aid added.
Mr Chen later told AFP news agency by phone: "I'm at the airport. I do not have a passport. I don't know when I will be leaving. I think I'm going to New York."
Last month he fled from house arrest in Shandong province. According to media accounts, the blind activist climbed over the wall of the property with the help of his wife late at night.
When he landed on the other side he broke his foot. He is then said to have felt his way in the dark, stumbling and falling, to a nearby village when a friend took him into his home.
He was then driven hundreds of kilometers away to the American embassy. He took refuge there during a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Beijing for high-level talks.
On 2 May, after six days at the embassy, he agreed to leave the compound, initially saying he wanted to stay in China.
He was taken to a Beijing hospital to be treated for his injury. During his stay at the hospital he called the US Congress twice.
On 3 May he pleaded for help to leave China with his family, saying he feared for his safety. On 16 May he called US lawmakers again accusing Shandong authorities of harassing his family.
Mr Chen was offered a place to study law at New York University after Beijing said he would be allowed to apply to study abroad.
The US has said visas for Mr Chen and his family are ready.
I'm surprised as to how smoothly this is going, considering it flies directly in the face of the usual Chinese political tactic of "snatch, silence, stow".
Oh thank god. I was sure this guy and everyone he closely knows were going to go mysteriously missing. Glad he made it, and he can be more active when he doesn't have to worry about his family being murdered.
[QUOTE=Reds;36013821]Oh thank god. I was sure this guy and everyone he closely knows were going to go mysteriously missing. Glad he made it, and he can be more active when he doesn't have to worry about his family being murdered.[/QUOTE]
There's still time for that, don't get too excited yet.
It's been demonstrated since Jesus Christ was crucified that it's worse for the government to attempt to destroy dissent and make martyrs than it is to simply let them be and never give them the attention they need to bring about change,etc. I'm not surprised that a government finally learned something.
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18127886]It's over[/url], he and his family are on their way to Newark :)
Good on him. He looks very chill/cool with those shades, as well.
[QUOTE=smurfy;36015889][url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18127886]It's over[/url], he and his family are on their way to Newark :)[/QUOTE]
That's like flying from the 10th level of hell to the 9th level of hell.
[editline]19th May 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Repulsion;36015905]Good on him. He looks very chill/cool with those shades, as well.[/QUOTE]
He is blind you know :v:
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36016038]That's like flying from the 10th level of hell to the 9th level of hell.[/QUOTE]
U.S. ain't bad to be at.
[QUOTE=mac338;36020453]U.S. ain't bad to be at.[/QUOTE]
Yeah but Newark is a whole different ballpark...
Chinese people can have mustaches?
He seems cooler from blindness for some reason.
[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;36021830]Chinese people can have mustaches?[/QUOTE]
You know baby Pokemon? Those are Chinese mustaches before they evolve to a wise sage beard.
[QUOTE=AJisAwesome15;36021830]Chinese people can have mustaches?[/QUOTE]
You kidding, right?
[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/30a563l.jpg[/IMG]
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