celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> jeff: chen's possible presence in the u.s. embassy or other american facility comes at a very delicate diplomatic moment. whit johnson in washington has that part of our story tonight, whit, good evening. >> reporter: and jeff, good evening. well, human rights is always a sensitive issue between the u.s. and china, this case threatens to overshadow a crucial diplomatic visit. still, the administration is saying no comment. >> reporter: following reports from the chinese dissident has taken refuge in the u.s. embassy in beijing, state department spokeswoman victoria nuland remained firm. >> i don't have anything for you on that subject. >> nothing at all. >> nothing at all. >> reporter: the case has become extremely sensitive ahead of the annual meeting between the u.s. and china. secretary of state hillary clinton and treasury secretary tim geithner are expected to begin talks thursday center on trade, the economy, and nuclear tensions with north korea and iran. chen will be the elegan elegant-- elephant in the room and report

celia hatton is in beijing, >> reporter: the u.s. embassy in beijing could be protecting this man, chen guangcheng, one of china's famous human rights activist. he fled house arrest last week. hither the u.s. nor the chinese government will confirm if he is in american custody. blind from a childhood illness, chen is a self-taught defense lawyer. he was imprisoned after exposing wprogram forcing women to undergo abortions to conform to china's one-child policy. but chen's real nightmare started after he was released from prison. to keep him silent, authorities kept the outspoken lawyer under house arrest, along with his wife and six-year-old daughter. security forces barred visitors and subjected chen and his wife to regular beatings. after plotting for months, chen made his great escape last sunday. under the cover-up of darkness, s,e blind 40-year-old lawyer waited until the guards were erenging shifts. he then scaled a high wall and made his way to meet an accomplice. from village in shandong, a network of activists helped him elu

celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> jeff: thats is the "cbs evening news" tonight.er on cbs "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor, cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be here tomorrow. good night. are >>> tomato fight for his job questions facing the suspended san francisco sheriff and if he gets to stay in office. this morning the boom heard around the southwest tonight whether an answer what scientists say caused the commotion. a red flag more than 20 years ago the memo that showed pg&e had warning about the pipeline,,

celia hatton is in china, norah o'donnell at the white house. one year after the killing of bin laden, new revelations about his ultimate goals. reports from david martin and john miller. dr. jon lapook on a surprising new study about children and diabetes. and after serving years for crimes they didn't commit mark strassmann finds men helping others just like themselves. >> sometimes when i get up i still pinch myself to see if it's true or not. : captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. just when the obama administration was expecting progress in relations with china there's a new crisis. one of china's leading human rights dissidents escaped from house arrest and is believed to be with american diplomats in beijing. the timing is incredible. tonight the secretary of state and treasury secretary are leading a delegation of 200 americans on a long-planned trip to china to iron out foreign policy and economic issues. china is our second largest trading partner behind canada. now the s

we have reports from both capitals tonight, first, celia hatton in beijing. >> no one has heard from chen guangcheng's wife and six-year-old daughter since the blind human rights activists made a daring nighttime escape from house arrest last week. chen's said to be under u.s. protection in beijing, but his wife and daughter stayed behind in their village home. blind from a childhood fever, chen is a self-taught lawyer. he was thrown into jail for exposing a program of forced abortions to conform to china's strict one-child policy. for the past 19 months, chen was a prisoner in his own home. guards surrounded the property, you could see them here captured on video smuggled to the outside world last year. chen said he and his wife were beaten regularly by police. for a time their daughter was prevented from going to school. journalists like this german crew never got past the security. but last sunday chen managed what seemed to be impossible. according to an activist who helped plan the escape, chen waited until the shift change of the guards when he wouldn't be watched, climbed the

. >> axelrod: celia hatton in beijing for us. thank you. what does this mean for u.s.-china relations. we're joined by former undersecretary of state, nicholas burns. nick, no shortage of topics for secretary clinton to take up with chinese leaders when she travels there. how likely is this to elevate human rights on the agenda? >> jim, i think human rights will be on the top of the agenda given the story of guangcheng. there were lot of issues, but this is a dramatic story. if in fact this young man is in american custody, it will dominate the meeting and the chinese and american governments will have to try to work out a resolution of this very important matter. >> axelrod: i guess the question then becomes how does secretary clinton raise the issue? is it done forcefully and publicly, or is it done behind the scenes? >> well, you see today, jim, that the two governments are not even acknowledging that he is in custody, and they're not saying much. that means that they're probably talking. it in private. that's the best way to work out a disagreement, but i think thi

for "cbs this morning," seal yeah celia hatton for cbs news. >> what option did the white house thinkhey have? >> reporter: the administration is trying to contain this growing diplomatic crisis and don't want it to have a negative impact on u.s. and chinese relations. some options, probably two, one is that chen could stay in china and his safety be guaranteed for himself and his family. the second he could go into exile. i think most experts say unlikely this administration will abandon chen. a man hillary clinton has talked about in the past and they champed his cause as a human righ rights act take tift. this is tricky and before a very big meeting that is happening in beijing this week. >> any thinking about how this will come up, if at all, during that meeting with secretary clinton leaving for that later? >>, there is no doubt it's going to overshadow the talks unless they can wrap up some sort of deal before they all meet. both sides, the u.s. and the chips, are saying no, it's not going to dominate these talks. these about other economic and security issues but this is certai

celia hatton is in china, norah o'donnell at the white house., new revelations about his ultimate goals. reports from david martin and john miller. dr. jon lapook on a surprising new study about children and diabetes. and after serving years for crimes they didn't commit mark strassmann finds men helping others just like themselves. >> sometimes when i get up i still pinch myself to see if it's true or not. : captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. just when the obama administration was expecting progress in relations with china there's a new crisis. one of china's leading human rights dissidents escaped from house arrest and isbe

for "cbs this morning," celia hatton, cbs news, beijing. >> norah o'donnell is with us from washington. what options does the white house think it has? >> look, the administration is trying to contain this growing diplomatic crisis. they don't want it to have a negative impact on u.s./chinese relations. there are some options, probably two. one is that chen could stay in china and his safety be guaranteed for himself and his family. the second is that he could go into exile. i think what most experts say, it's unlikely this administration will abandon chen. i mean, this is a man that secretary of state hillary clinton has talked about publicly in the past. they've champ beyond his cause as a human rights activist. this is very tricky, i think, charlie, very tricky and comes at a delicate time in u.s. sl b u.s./chinese relations before this big meeting. >> is there any talk about how that will come up at all? >> there's no doubt it's going to overshadow these talks unless they can wrap up some sort of deal before they all meet. both sides, the u.s. and the chinese, are saying, no, it's