Beijing prepares for human rights activist to leave China

Formerly imprisoned activist Chen Guangcheng said that the Chinese government is preparing to help him leave the country for the US, though the process is likely to take a while, the Financial Times reported. Guo Shucong, an official from the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, has been sent by Beijing to help Chen sort out his paperwork for what is ostensibly a study abroad trip to the US. “It would be too early to say it’s going to go very quickly,” said Chen. However, he added that, “They just said that the attitude of the central government is very clear, that they will do it for me.” Separately, a Chinese court decided to hear a suit by dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who claims that the government illegally imposed a RMB15 million (US$2.4 million) tax evasion penalty on a firm which markets his work.