Chen Guangcheng: What's ahead for Chinese dissident now in the US?

Now that Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has reached the United States, both Beijing and Washington are hoping to put what could have been a tense diplomatic situation behind them.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / May 19, 2012

Chen Guangcheng meets his wife Yuan Weijing, daughter Chen Kesi, and son Chen Kerui at a hospital in Beijing May 2. U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke stands at Chen's right.

U.S. Embassy Beijing Press Office/AP

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Now that Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng has reached the United States, both Beijing and Washington are hoping to put what could have been a tense diplomatic situation behind them.

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Mr. Chen?s flight from the Chinese capital arrived in Newark, New Jersey, about 6 p.m. Saturday. ?From there, he was to travel to New York University in Manhattan where he has been invited to study as a fellow at the?NYU School of Law.

Both Chinese and US officials issued low-key statements during the day.

"Chen Guangcheng is a Chinese citizen. China's relevant departments have handled the procedures for exiting the country in accordance with the law," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement faxed to the Reuters news agency.

Senior?White House?official?Ben Rhodes?of the National Security Council praised the diplomacy that allowed Chen to come to the?United States.

"We welcome this development and the fact that he will be able to pursue a course of study here in the United States," Rhodes said during the?Group of Eight?summit the?United States?is hosting at Camp David,?Maryland. "We are pleased that this was able to reach a resolution."

China tightens restrictions on Chen Guangcheng's family

But Chen?s story inevitably draws attention to China?s record on human rights and freedom of political dissent.

?Chen isn?t just one guy, he is a symbol of thousands and thousands of other people who are trying to exercise their legal rights to seek change in what is, in many ways, an abusive status quo,? Phelim Kine, senior Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Bloomberg News.

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