Blind Chinese activist, now in US, seeks book deal

CHINESE legal activist Chen Guangcheng (pictured) is planning to write a book about his life and his quest for human rights in his native country.

Chen has three goals, spokesman Matt Dorf said Thursday: to spread his message for greater freedom in China, to help support his family and to raise money to contribute to human rights organisations.

"He is very much looking forward to telling his story," Dorf, managing partner of the Washington-based Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, told The Associated Press.

Chen, 40, made a dramatic escape in April from house arrest in his rural village. He sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing, just before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in China for high-level diplomatic discussions. Chen has said he was unaware at the time that Clinton was coming to China.

Dorf said Chen had not started the book, which will be translated from Mandarin, but was hoping to meet with publishers "as soon as possible, within weeks, not months." AP