Clinton gives inside account of US turmoil after helping blind activist Chen Guangcheng

Hillary Clinton in her new book passionately defended her role in the release of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, criticising Republican assertions that the United States pressured him.

In Hard Choices, the former secretary of state and potential presidential contender credited US efforts to nurture relations with China with allowing an atmosphere in which Beijing allowed the activist, who has been blind since childhood, to move to the United States.

Clinton credited her assistant secretary of state for East Asia, the flamboyant academic Kurt Campbell, with his role in the episode and said at one point he volunteered to resign when the talks almost fell apart.

Chen, who enraged authorities by exposing forced abortions and sterilisations under China’s one-child-only policy, escaped from house arrest in April 2012 and fled to the US embassy days ahead of a visit by Clinton.

The United States arranged an agreement with Beijing in which Chen would be allowed to study in China, receive medical treatment and file complaints over the beatings he said he suffered.

The deal triggered an uproar in Washington, as Chen told a congressional hearing by telephone he was afraid for his safety by remaining in China.

“It was like throwing fuel on the political fire,” Clinton said of Chen’s remarks, saying that her aides had negotiated the initial deal in accordance with the activist’s own wishes.