The brother of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has fled his closely guarded village to seek legal advice Thursday in Beijing on how to protect his son from what their supporters call retaliation by local officials, an attorney said. 
 
 Chen sought protection of U.S. diplomats last month after escaping virtual house arrest in his hometown, sparking a standoff between Beijing and Washington and highlighting the extralegal measures taken by local Chinese officials to suppress dissent. 
 
 The two countries resolved the standoff by agreeing to let Chen and his immediate family travel to the U.S. so that he could attend a university, but his supporters say the legal activist's extended family in Shandong province faces a continued crackdown. 
 
 His nephew, Chen Kegui, has been arrested and accused of attempted murder during a clash last month with local officials who burst into his home looking for Chen after his escape. 
 
 Chen Guangfu _ the activist's brother and the father of Chen Kegui _ met Thursday in Beijing with attorney Ding Xikui to discuss his son's case, the lawyer said. 
 
 Ding says he and another attorney were authorized by Chen Kegui's wife to defend him. However, police at the Yinan detention center where Chen Kegui is being have told the lawyers that government-appointed attorneys will be representing him instead. 
 
 Ding said Chen Guangfu wanted to meet with him to affirm that he, too, wanted Ding to represent his son, not the government-appointed lawyers. 
 
 "We are still in negotiations with the local authorities" on Chen Kegui's case, Ding said, adding that Chen Guangfu also wanted to meet his daughter-in-law who is staying in Beijing. 
 
 Two other rights lawyers said that Chen Guangfu called them once he left the village. One of them, Jiang Tianyong, said Chen Guangfu described the security situation in his hometown as having become tighter since Chen Guangcheng escaped the village a month ago. 
 
 "There are more people, many more people. They are stationed at the entrance of the village and at major intersections, they are spread even farther and wider," Jiang said. 
 
 Chen Guangcheng is a self-taught legal activist who gained recognition for crusading for the disabled and fighting against forced abortions in his rural community. But he angered local officials and was convicted in 2006 on what his supporters say were fabricated charges. After serving four years in prison, he then faced an abusive and illegal house arrest. 
 
 Chen made a daring escape from his village in April and wound up in the protection of U.S. diplomats, triggering a diplomatic standoff over his fate. Officials struck a deal that let Chen walk free, only to see him have second thoughts. That forced new negotiations that led to an agreement to send him to the U.S. to study law, a goal of his, at New York University. 
 
 The departure of Chen, his wife and two children to the United States on Saturday marked the conclusion of nearly a month of uncertainty and years of mistreatment by local authorities for the activist. ||||| Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, recounts in Beijing May 23, 2012 the details of his torture and the authorities' reprisals against his family after Chen Guangcheng's flight last week to the United States. 
 
 BEIJING The brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng who was reported to have gone missing has returned to his village in northeastern China, a lawyer said on Saturday. 
 
 The short disappearance of Chen Guangfu had sparked concerns he was the latest target of government reprisals against the family of the activist, who escaped from his village in late April after 19 months of detention at home. 
 
 Shandong-based lawyer Liu Weiguo told Reuters Chen Guangfu had returned to Dongshigu village. Liu earlier said the activist was "very worried" about his brother's disappearance and was contacting friends to look for him. 
 
 "Brother Fu is now home," Liu said, adding he had received a text message from Chen Guangfu on Saturday night. 
 
 Chen Guangfu had left his village on Tuesday and arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to seek legal help for his son who is detained on a charge of attempted murder. Friends and family had tried to contact him since Friday evening after it appeared he did not return to his hotel room in Beijing that night. 
 
 His son Chen Kegui, 32, was charged with "intentional homicide" for using knives to fend off local officials who burst into his home on April 27, the day after they discovered his uncle had escaped. 
 
 He could face the death penalty. His lawyers, denied access to him last week, said he did not kill anyone. 
 
 On Wednesday, Chen Guangfu had recounted to Reuters details of his own torture and reprisals by authorities since his brother's escape. 
 
 He said he was restricted from leaving his village, and police in Shandong warned him they would increase his son's sentence if he gave interviews. 
 
 Activist Chen Guangcheng took refuge in the U.S. embassy last month, where he stayed for six days and sparked a diplomatic crisis between China and the United States. 
 
 That crisis, which overshadowed a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was finally defused last Saturday when China allowed Chen to fly to the United States to study. 
 
 (Editing by Nick Macfie and Sophie Hares)
– The brother of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has followed in his younger brother's footsteps and fled their closely guarded village in Shandong province, reports AP. Chen Guangfu has made his way to Beijing with the help of supporters, and is now seeking legal advice on how to protect his son from what he believes is retaliation from local officials infuriated by the activist's escape from house arrest last month. He says he managed to elude village guards by avoiding roads and running through fields. Chen Guangfu's son was arrested and accused of attempted murder after using a knife to fend off officials who had entered his home and were beating his mother after his uncle's escape. His father says he is "extremely pessimistic" about his son's prospects. Asked for his thoughts about his brother's new life in the US, the elder Chen said he should bring his family over to take a look. "So many people have said bad things about the United States. Someone even said he was like a dog that was kicked out of the US embassy," he tells Reuters. "But ultimately, he ended up in America. So I think the criticisms aren't justified."