Dissident escape tests US-China ties

A senior US diplomat arrives in China, just days before a major visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, amid allegations that the US is harbouring an escaped Chinese rights activist.

Kurt Campbell, the assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was seen leaving a US embassy car early on Sunday morning, and would not say why he was in the country on an unscheduled trip.

A US-based rights group confirms that Chen Guangcheng, the rights activist in question, is safe and in Beijing, but would not give his exact location.

Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports.