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AP Exclusive: China lawyer's family says US helped them flee

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    In this March 17, 2017, photo and released by China Aid, Chen Guiqiu, right, holds a "Welcome to America" sign with her daughters Xie Yajuan, 15, and Xie Yuchen, 4, after arriving at an airport in Texas. Chen whose husband, prominent rights lawyer Xie Yang, is held on charge of inciting subversion made a harrowing flight from China with her daughters chased by Chinese security agents across Southeast Asia. (China Aid via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    In this photo taken July 4, 2016 and provided by Li Wenzu, wives of detained rights lawyers from left, Li Wenzu, Wang Qiaoling, Fan Lili, Liu Ermin, Wang Yanfang and Chen Guiqiu pose for photos in front of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate in Beijing. Chen Guiqiu, wife of detained rights lawyer Xie Yang held in China for inciting subversion, tells The Associated Press of how she and her two daughters fled the country to Thailand, where they were nearly deported back to China before the U.S. stepped in. They fled China to the U.S. with the help of the U.S. government in March 2017. (Li Wenzu via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    In this March 17, 2017, photo and released by China Aid, Chen Guiqiu, right, holds a "Welcome to America" sign with her daughters Xie Yajuan, 15, and Xie Yuchen, 4, after arriving at an airport in Texas. Chen whose husband, prominent rights lawyer Xie Yang, is held on charge of inciting subversion made a harrowing flight from China with her daughters chased by Chinese security agents across Southeast Asia. (China Aid via AP) (The Associated Press)

BEIJING – The wife of a human rights lawyer under arrest in China has made it to America with her daughters after nearly being forced back to her home country.

Chen Guiqiu was detained at a Bangkok jail, with more than a dozen Chinese security agents waiting at the entrance, before U.S. Embassy officials whisked her away. She endured an hours-long diplomatic standoff at the airport and eventually made it to America.

One of her daughters is a U.S. citizen, which may be why the U.S. got so involved in a Chinese human rights case.

Chen and her supporters disclosed details of her family's March escape for the first time to The Associated Press. Their journey reveals the lengths that China's government has been increasingly willing to pursue dissidents and their families.