I'm going tinfoil. Snowden I believe is a marked man. If the Chinese don't spirit him away, he has limited time. No one would buy him, having a sudden heart attack, falling from a balcony, drowning in a bathtub, catching a cold/flu, getting into a car accident. Nope not going to buy it. I think our latest leaker of government secrets will be flying on a plane and the plane will mysteriously explode/crash taking all those on board with him. It will be a maintenance issue.
I have a bet that the Chinese have no issue with waterboarding for whatever secrets they can pull out of him....or his fingernails.......but that is just a guess. He would have to be tempting to query on what he really knows, can't see them passing that opportunity up. But on the other side of the coin, if he is so anti-intrusion what the H is he doing in china where they are the most oppressive in the world in regards to privacy. I think they flipped him with a promise of refuge, and the opportunity to embarrass obummer during his visit with President Xi Jinping for leverage in negotiations and discussions.
Oooh, I do love the tin foil hat lounge! I'm betting on drug overdose. Surely no one will approve of his actions or agree with his point of view if we find out he's a junkie...