China declines comment on Chen going abroad

China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had no comment on a request by Chen Guangcheng to go abroad, a day after harshly condemning the U.S. Embassy for sheltering the blind dissident.
   
At a regular press briefing, ministry spokesman Liu Weimin repeated China's stance that the U.S. handling of Chen's case was "irregular" and "unacceptable".
  
Asked about Chen's request to leave China, Liu said: "I have no information about that."
   
Chen, a self-taught rural legal advocate, is in a Beijing hospital after leaving the U.S. Embassy there on Wednesday. He took refuge there for six days after escaping house arrest and left under a plan providing for him to stay in China. But Chen later said he fears for his and his family's safety if he stays.

China and the United States need to know how to trust each other, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Thursday at the start of annual U.S.-China talks.
   
The Strategic and Economic Dialogue gets under way in Beijing as China and the United States attempt to resolve a thorny dispute involving the fate of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng.
   
China has sharply criticised the actions of U.S. diplomats, who sheltered Chen in the U.S. embassy in Beijing.
 
Reuters