Chen Offered University Fellowship

In a deal that may bring an end to careful negotiations between the United States and China, blind activist Chen Guangcheng has been offered a university fellowship, American officials said Friday. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement Chen and his wife and children have been made an offer by an American university, and that the Chinese government should hold to its earlier indications that it would allow Chen to travel abroad for study. "The United States government expects that the Chinese government will expeditiously process his applications for these documents," Nuland said in the statement, adding that the U.S. would give his visa request "priority attention."