U.S. Pushes China on Human Rights Record at the Risk of Upsetting ‘Friend’
U.S. Pushes China on Human Rights
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
U.S. vice president Joe Biden, center, speaks during the opening ceremony of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue with China's state councilor Dai Bingguo, China's vice premier Wang Qishan, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and U.S. treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner, in Washington, D.C.
U.S. vice president Joe Biden, center, speaks during the opening ceremony of the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue with China's state councilor Dai Bingguo, China's vice premier Wang Qishan, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and U.S. treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner, in Washington, D.C. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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The U.S. risked China’s wrath by pressing the world’s second-biggest economy on its human rights record, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it a “fool’s errand” to try and deter dissent and free speech.
In an interview with The Atlantic magazine, the top U.S. diplomat accused China “of trying to stop history, which is a fool’s errand.” In some of her strongest language to date, Clinton called China’s human-rights record “deplorable,” according to excerpts of an April 7 interview published today.
“Like friends, we discuss those differences honestly and forthrightly,” Clinton said at the opening session yesterday of the first day of meetings between U.S. and Chinese officials in Washington. She cited reports of arrests and “disappearances” of artists, journalists and bloggers.
To underline the message, Vice President Joe Biden indicated that criticism on this front would continue -- even at the risk of irritating Chinese authorities, who view it as an intrusion into domestic affairs. State Councilor Dai Bingguo pushed back, saying the U.S. should “learn first-hand” about China’s “enormous progress” in human rights and “get to know the real China.”
Disagreement ‘Rankles’
“I know and I understand that disagreement, when we voice it, is upsetting or rankles,” Biden said. Still, the U.S. administration believes “strongly” that protecting human rights “is the best way to promote long-term stability and prosperity of any society.”
While Chinese human rights violations are always alluded to in face-to-face talks between the U.S. and China, the administration had been wary of overtly slamming the Beijing government on its crackdown on dissidents. Similarly, on Capitol Hill, legislators are reluctant to devote energy to an issue that hasn’t grabbed the public’s attention and isn’t tied directly to U.S. jobs or the budget.
Ahead of this meeting, China’s official religious groups called a U.S. report on freedom of worship in the country “subjective, full of prejudices and not true to reality,” according to Xinhua, the state-run news service.
Human rights remains a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and private discussions on the topic were very candid and honest, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The purpose was to leave no room for ambiguity between the two sides, the official said.
Obama Statement
In a White House meeting yesterday, President Barack Obama raised concerns with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan about China’s human rights record and U.S. support for “universal rights of expression and worship,” according to a statement from the U.S. administration.
Wang, on the “Charlie Rose” show airing on PBS and Bloomberg Television, said that China wouldn’t run into the types of violent demonstrations taking place in parts of North Africa and the Middle East. In February, online activists organized rallies in several Chinese cities against government corruption and abuse of power, saying they were inspired by the so-called Arab Spring.
To contact the reporter on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson in Washington at fjackson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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