Only a few hours
after blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng left his sanctuary in the
U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the United States' declared it had won
concessions over his future from the Chinese government, a soft-spoken
44-year-old West Texas pastor was questioning the official version of
events.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said that Chen, who had escaped house arrest in a village in
Shandong province before making his way to the Chinese capital last
week, had "a number of understandings with the Chinese government about
his future, including the opportunity to pursue higher education in a
safe environment" inside China. Chinese state media said he had left the embassy "of his own volition."