DHARAMSHALA: One of the world’s leading human rights group has urged US Secretary of State John Kerry should publicly deliver a strong message in defense of human rights to China’s new leadership when he visits Beijing from 13-14 April.

“This is Secretary Kerry’s first visit to China in his new role, and he can set a high bar by stating publicly that the fate of Chinese activists and the efforts by people in China to secure their rights are key concerns of the United States. Some past first visits have given a decidedly mixed US message on the importance of human rights protections in China, so it’s critical that Secretary Kerry deliver a firm, clear statement,” Ms Sophie Richardson, China Director of Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday.

In a letter to Secretary Kerry dated 9 April, Ms Sophie Richardson called on Secretary Kerry to “speak to an audience in China beyond the government, stressing that the US and many people in China see eye-to-eye on human rights, even if the Chinese government does not.”

Ms Richardon urged him to “explicitly urge the Chinese government to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders and press for a response to underlying grievances in that region.”

“In his confirmation hearings Secretary Kerry noted that no nation is as committed to the cause of human rights as the US is,” Ms Richardson said. “Given the many acute human rights abuses in China, there will be much for him to discuss with the new leadership in Beijing,” the letter noted. (View full text of the letter)

Human Rights Watch said, although the new Chinese leadership has expressed rhetorical support for reform on some key human rights concerns, the central and local authorities continue to impose particularly harsh and restrictive policiesin Tibet and Xinjiang, and fail to address popular and peacefully-articulated grievances in those regions.

Since 2009, over 114 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans. 96 of them have died. Despite growing calls from the international community for China to resolve the grievances of Tibetans, the Chinese leadership has heightened its repressive policies in Tibet. (View self-immolation fact sheet)