BEIJING (AP) – A Chinese activist and U.S. officials are offering differing accounts of what prompted Chen Guangcheng to leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing today. Chen tells The Associated Press that American diplomats told him that Chinese authorities would send his family back to their home province if he remained in the embassy. He says one U.S. official warned that his wife would have been beaten to death. A senior U.S. official confirms the first part of the story but denies that U.S. officials relayed any threat of violence to Chen’s family. Chen, who fled to the embassy six day ago, left under an agreement in which he would receive medical care, be reunited with his family and allowed to attend university in a safe place. He says he now fears for his safety and wants to leave.
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