Chen Guangcheng courted by US institutions with opposing views A year after his dramatic flight to the US, Chen Guangcheng is at the centre of a tussle between pro-life campaigners and human rights lawyers who both want the blind Chinese legal activist to represent their cause. Mr Chen, who made his name defending Chinese women forced into abortions, has received a three-year offer to work at the Witherspoon Institute, a conservative pro-life think-tank. The institute attracted controversy last year for funding a study suggesting that children of homosexual parents were at a disadvantage. IN US Society The activist is currently a fellow at New York University's Law School but is also in negotiations to become a visiting scholar at the Leitner Center, a human rights programme at New York's Fordham School of Law. Since arriving in the US, Mr Chen, who is described as very charismatic by those who know him, has become a fiercely sought-after speaker at fundraising events. He has received several honours, including Human Rights First's annual award in a ceremony presided over by Hollywood actor Christian Bale. People familiar with the self-taught lawyer, who lives in New York with his wife and two children, say he has become better able to sift through competing demands from groups seeking his endorsement. Still, according to one acquaintance: "It's not entirely clear he understands all the riptides of those interests. How do you get your head around the strange world you've landed in? Fordham University said it hoped Mr Chen could take up his position as a writer and lecturer in July or soon after, although it said a deal had not been finalised. Bob Howe, Fordham's senior director of communications, would not comment on the rival offer from Witherspoon, based in Princeton, New Jersey, but said Mr Chen would not be able to "serve both as a visiting scholar at the Leitner Center and have a position at an institute at Princeton." Witherspoon Institute could not be contacted for comment. Jerome Cohen, the NYU law professor who helped negotiate Mr Chen's passage to the US, said it was important that he was not co-opted by the pro-life cause. "If he takes the Witherspoon position that would diminish his stature in the US," he said. Mr Chen opposed forced abortions but believed in a woman's right to choose, he said. There are groups in the US who have tried to blur that line. Mr Chen has become an increasingly outspoken critic of China, where family members, including his elder brother, have been tormented by thugs since he left the country. There has also been concern this week that his jailed nephew may not be receiving adequate treatment for appendicitis. "It's turned him into a dissident," said Prof Cohen, referring to the mistreatment of Mr Chen's family. Beijing is trying to turn him into a traitor. Mr Chen has also angered Beijing with a planned visit this month to the self-ruled island nation of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a core part of Chinese territory. "His story continues to be interesting because it's not over," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. Every time he opens his mouth, his family back in China takes it in the neck.