U.S. seeks ‘appropriate balance’ in China activist case

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WASHINGTON — The United States is working hard to strike an “appropriate balance” as it navigates the politically sensitive case of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng who has sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.

“We are working very closely with the individuals involved in this,” chief White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan in an interview with Fox News Sunday, although he refused to provide details about the talks, or to say who precisely they were with.

President Barack Obama is attempting a balancing act on US “commitment to human rights, making sure that the people throughout the world have the ability to express themselves freely and openly, but also that we continue to carry out our relationships with key countries overseas,” Brennan said.

Obama, he said, is “going to make sure that we do this in the appropriate way and that appropriate balance is struck.”

Guangcheng, who has been blind since childhood, fled house arrest last Sunday with the help of his supporters from under the noses of dozens of guards, and subsequently recorded a video alleging abuses against him and his family.

China Aid, a group run by the former Tiananmen Square democracy activist Bob Fu, said Saturday it had learned from a “source close to the Chen Guangcheng situation” that the activist was now “under US protection.”