Washington, May 19: A dissident who was one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing tried abortively to turn himself in to Chinese authorities at their embassy in Washington on Friday.
The embassy refused to respond to Wu'er Kaixi's visit and he criticised their response, saying it was abnormal to ignore the surrender of a wanted man.
“Today I am doing this again, hoping that I can finally get to see my parents in China, even if that meeting has to be a prison visit for my parents,” he said.
Wu'er, who has been living in exile in Taiwan, also claimed that human rights abuses had reached an “unprecedented level” and laid part of the blame on Western powers for “what I call ‘appeasement' to China.”
His attempt to give himself up came at a time when relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained over the fate of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng.
Chen escaped house arrest last month and sought the protection of U.S. diplomats and is now in hospital awaiting permission to travel to the United States to study.
However, Chen and his supporters fear his relatives are at risk of retribution from local officials angry at Chen's escape.
“Chen Guangcheng is a hero,” said Wu'er. “He has been persecuted for his heroic act, and everybody in the world should embrace him, welcome him, and provide assistance.”
Wu'er was also on China's list of most wanted student leaders for the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.
Wearing pajamas, the young hunger striker drew attention when he harangued then-Premier Li Peng during a televised meeting with protesters.
Wu'er fled China with the help of a secret network that helped numerous Tiananmen protesters leave the country through Hong Kong and Macao.
He lives in Taiwan, where he is a businessman and political commentator.
He made headlines in June 2010 when police in Japan arrested him for allegedly trying to force his way into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
