US President Barack Obama administration’s diplomatic predicament deepened yesterday, when a blind Chinese legal activist who took refuge in the US embassy said he now wants to go abroad, rejecting a deal that was supposed to keep him safely in China.

Only hours after Chen Guangcheng (陳光誠) left the embassy for a hospital checkup and reunion with his family, he began telling friends and foreign media they feel threatened and want to go abroad. At first taken aback at the reversal, the US State Department said officials spoke twice by phone with Chen and met with his wife, with both affirming their desire to leave.