In Meetings, US Presses Beijing on Rights

The State Department released its latest sober diagnosis of human rights abuses in China, along with some gentle encouragement to Beijing to do better.

Michael Posner -- the assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor – said that in meetings the State Department addressed China’s abuses of free expression on the Internet and in public, its persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and its inhumane labor practices, among other human rights issues. For their part, Chinese officials raised concerns about the United States’ record on human rights, particularly in areas of discrimination and prison conditions. Critics say that merely raising concerns with the Chinese government, as the United States does in this dialogue each year, is an exercise in diplomatic futility. The State Department insists that the discussions are one facet of a larger strategy.