A deal between US and Chinese officials over human rights dissident Chen Guangcheng appeared to break down on Wednesday night, casting a pall over the two countries’ Strategic and Economic Dialogue set to begin Thursday, the Financial Times reported. US officials seemed to have brokered a deal with their Chinese counterparts over Chen, who escaped from house arrest in Shandong province and fled to the US embassy in Beijing. Chen “has a number of understandings with the Chinese government about his future, including the opportunity to pursue higher education in a safe environment,” said a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, Chen left the US Embassy Wednesday and told Western media outlets that he feared for his family’s safety, felt “let down” by the US and wanted to leave China. “This is the most complicated period in US-China relations since 1989,” said David Lampton, a China scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.