Blind Chinese dissident Chen claims China increases curbs on family

Beijing, May 11 (ANI): Blind activist Chen Guangcheng has expressed fears about the safety of his family after Chinese authorities allegedly increased pressure on them.

Chen Guangcheng had fled house arrest last month and spent six days in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

The activist, who hopes to go to the U.S. with his wife and children to study, told the BBC that he feared that the revenge against him has begun.

"I'm worried about my family's situation right now. I think the local government in Shangdong has started their revenge against me," Chen told the BBC Chinese service on the phone from his hospital bed.

He said that his nephew, Chen Kegui, had been arrested in Shandong on suspicion of attempted murder and that his nephew's wife appeared to be missing.

He also said that the police had threatened his brother's family. His brother's wife is suspected of committing a criminal offence.

Chen is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Beijing and awaiting the completion of paperwork to allow him to leave for America to study, but he has limited information about what is happening in his home.

Chen has said that he has an offer to study at New York University, and all of the US formalities have been completed. (ANI)