China Blind Lawyer
This undated photo provided by the China Aid Association shows blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangchen in Shandong province, China. Chen, a well-...
This undated photo provided by the China Aid Association shows blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangchen in Shandong province, China. Chen, a well-known dissident who angered authorities in rural China by exposing forced abortions, made a surprise escape from house arrest on April 22, 2012, into what activists say is the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing, posing a delicate diplomatic crisis for both governments. (AP Photo/www.ChinaAid.org)
US China Blind Lawyer
FILE - In this April 24, 2012 file photo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington. Clinton heads to Be...
FILE - In this April 24, 2012 file photo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington. Clinton heads to Beijing, scene of a tense human rights showdown over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer said to be under U.S. protection there after escaping from house arrest. Activists say both sides are working to come up with a deal to diffuse the crisis ahead of U.S.-China talks on a host of global issues. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed to Beijing, scene of a tense human rights showdown as activists say talks are continuing between China and the U.S. over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer who escaped house arrest.
U.S. officials are said to be protecting Chen Guangcheng, a lawyer who exposed forced abortions and sterilizations as part of China's one-child policy.
Efforts to strike a deal for Chen's future did not materialize before Clinton left the United States. His fate has threatened to overshadow the high-level strategic and economic talks between the world's two biggest economic powers.
Neither country is saying much publicly about the case. Clinton arrives in Beijing early Wednesday.
