Blind activist leaves Beijing for US

Beijing: China allowed a blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, to leave a hospital in Beijing yesterday and board a plane bound for the United States, a move that could signal the end of a diplomatic standoff between the two countries.

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

Study abroad

The US State Department said he was en route to the United States, along with his wife and two children. He boarded a United Airlines flight bound for Newark.

State news agency Xinhua said Chen had applied to study in the United States under legal procedures, in the first official account of Chen's activities, but made no mention of whether he had left the country. The Foreign Ministry said this month that Chen could apply to study abroad, a move seen as a way of easing Sino-US tensions on human rights.

A statement by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland struck a conciliatory note, saying Washington was "looking forward" to Chen's arrival.