Human rights showdown awaits Clinton in Beijing

Tue May 1st 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed to Beijing, scene of a tense human rights showdown as activists say talks are continuing between China and the U.S. over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer who escaped house arrest.

U.S. officials are said to be protecting Chen Guangcheng, a lawyer who exposed forced abortions and sterilizations as part of China's one-child policy.

Efforts to strike a deal for Chen's future didn't materialize before Clinton left the United States. His fate has threatened to overshadow the high-level strategic and economic talks between the world's two biggest economic powers.

Neither country is saying much publicly about the case. Clinton arrives in Beijing early Wednesday.