Blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng's decision to flee China, made after he left the US embassy on Wednesday afternoon, has drawn varied responses from friends and fellow rights advocates. Many are still trying to piece together what led to his change of mind, while others are raising concerns about whether it is a wise move.
Veteran Chinese law professor Jerome Cohen, who spoke to Chen for a total of more than four hours on Monday and Tuesday night, said he was surprised at the 'sudden change of mind', but said he understood it to be a hard decision.
'It was a difficult decision in any event, and it took some time for him to come to it, and I thought that when he left the embassy he had decided this was a gamble worth taking,' Cohen told the South China Morning Post yesterday. He became involved when Chen demanded to speak to him after the US embassy said he should seek independent legal advice.
Cohen said that according to his knowledge, Chen's wife was supportive of the deal when Chen was still in the embassy and when she was in hospital. But Chen wavered on Monday night.
'On Monday, after 2 1/2 hours of talking with the US officials and with him, I told them the deal is off. Chen is too afraid. He kept saying on Monday feichang bu anquan [very unsafe]. I said, look, if that's your feeling, no way you could accept this deal.'
However, on Tuesday, Chen apparently told the United States embassy that it was not him but Cohen who told him to reject the deal.