The brother of the blind activist Chen Guangcheng has gone missing after fleeing his village in north-eastern China to seek help for his son who is facing an attempted murder charge. 
 
 Chen Guangfu, the eldest brother of Chen Guangcheng, disappeared two days after he arrived in Beijing to support his son, Chen Kegui, who has been detained in a case that has become a rallying point among rights activists. 
 
 The Shandong-based lawyer Liu Weiguo said Chen Guangfu, a 55-year-old farmer and labourer, did not return to his hotel room in Beijing on Friday night. 
 
 Zhao Wei, a Shandong supporter of Chen Guangcheng's family, was the last person to have contact with Chen Guangfu before they parted ways on Friday afternoon, Liu told the Reuters news agency. 
 
 "As of now, there's still no news on Brother Guangfu," Liu said. "We're not optimistic. Guangcheng is also very worried. He's contacting friends to look [for him]." 
 
 Chen Guangfu appears to have become the latest target of Beijing's reprisals against Chen Guangcheng's family in the wake of the activist's escape from his village in late April after 19 months of detention at home. 
 
 Last week Chen Guangfu said he had been chained to a chair and beaten for three days to make him reveal how his sibling had escaped from house arrest in the Shandong countryside. 
 
 His son, 32, was accused of attempted murder after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into his home on April 27, the day after they discovered his blind uncle had escaped. He could face the death penalty. A team of independent lawyers who have offered to represent the defendant were dismissed by the authorities and told not to speak about the case. 
 
 Chen Guangcheng took refuge in the US embassy, where he stayed for six days and sparked a diplomatic crisis between China and the US. That crisis, which overshadowed a visit by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was finally defused last Saturday when China allowed him to fly to the US to study. 
 
 Michael Posner, the US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, said on Thursday that Washington was closely monitoring Chen's family in China. 

 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 blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has returned home to his village after apparently vanishing yesterday in Beijing, Reuters reports. Chen Guangfu, a 55-year-old laborer and farmer, had fled his home earlier this week to seek legal help for his son, who is in Beijing facing attempted murder charges. The family grew worried when Chen Guangfu failed to return to his hotel room last night, reports the Guardian. "We're not optimistic," a lawyer friend said at the time. "Guangcheng is also very worried. He's contacting friends to look [for him]." Chen Guangfu's recent story of being chained and beaten by authorities only added to concerns—as did the murder charge against his son, Chen Kegui, who was reportedly defending himself after officials broke into his home last month. Now, however, Chen Guangfu is safely back in Dongshigu village. Said the lawyer: "Brother Fu is now home."