 However, they maintained that they had not heard of the threats from local officials that his family would be beaten, and that they had not communicated such a message to Chen.On 3 May, Chen clarified to the BBC that he had become aware of the threats against his family after leaving the embassy, and at that point changed his mind about wishing to stay in China.On 2 May, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that the U.S. apologize for the Chen incident, investigate its acts and never interfere in China's domestic matters in such a way again.