Chen demands justice

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EDITORS: THIS IS THE SAME STORY AS 2041 BUT RESENT WITH NEW NUMBER BECAUSE OF DELIVERY PROBLEM.

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng still in hospital in Beijing after his escape from house arrest and six day refuge at the U.S. embassy.

He's undergoing treatment for problems stemming from his escape, and 19 months confined to his home.

He said in a phone interview on Tuesday he'd plotted his get away for months.

SOUNDBITE: CHEN GUANGCHENG SAYING (Mandarin):

"I planned the escape for about a year or more. I felt I had to break away from the situation as my problem was extremely difficult to solve. Besides, it was only me who could take the risk. Although they threatened me many times in the past year that I would be dead if I walked out of the yard, I thought over and over again that I had no other choice."

Chen is accusing Shangdong provincial officials of falsely imprisoning and persecuting him.

He's calling on the central government to investigate and act.

SOUNDBITE: CHEN GUANGCHENG SAYING (Mandarin):

"I raised very specific demands about this series of incidents, that Shangdong has to be thoroughly investigated, no matter who the officials, how high, or how many are implicated, as long as they violated Chinese law they must all be dealt with strictly according to the law. This is what I have demanded. Let's see what they can do."

For now Chen's future remains hazy.

He says he wants to spend some time in the United States.

China's foreign ministry says he can apply to study abroad, but it's unclear how soon he'd be allowed to travel.

Paul Chapman, Reuters