White House defends handling of Chinese activist seeking asylum

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Thursday defended the administration’s handling of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, whose future in China remains uncertain.

Carney refused to answer questions about whether the White House would support asylum for Chen, repeatedly referring those questions to the State Department.

He also insisted that Chen never requested political asylum while in the U.S. embassy and that U.S. officials did not pressure him to remain in China.