‘US Concerned about Human Rights Situation in China’[Wednesday, 11 May 2011, 3:30 p.m.]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

DHARAMSHALA:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told top Chinese officials
that the US government continue to be concerned about the human rights
situation in China.In her opening remarks at the US-China
Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, DC on Tuesday, 
Secretary Clinton said, “We see reports of people, including public
interest lawyers, writers, artists, and others, who are detained or
disappeared.”“We know over the long arch of history that
societies that work toward respecting human rights are going to be more
prosperous, stable, and successful,” she told Chinese officials. The Chinese delegation at the meeting is led by Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo.“That has certainly been proven time and time again, but most particularly in the last months.”Secretary Clinton said both US and China discuss their differences on the human rights issue “honestly and forthrightly.” “We will be continuing the discussion of the recent US-China Human Rights Dialogue just held in Beijing,” she added.The
United States and China held extensive talks on human rights
developments in China during their bilateral human rights dialogue held
in Beijing from 27 – 28 April.The discussions focussed on the
recent negative trend of forced disappearances, extralegal detentions,
and arrests and convictions, as well as rule of law, freedom of
religion, freedom of expression, labor rights, minority rights and
other human rights issues of concern. Assistant Secretary for
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner, who led the talks in
Beijing, said, “I think one concrete outcome is that we had extensive
discussions about the issues of religious freedom and Tibet and the
Uighurs and issues relating to arrests of lawyers and journalists and
so forth. We had more time to go into more detail and express our
concerns.”“Our discussions focused on the lawyers, bloggers,
artists, NGO activists, journalists, representatives of minority
religious communities and others who were asserting their rights and
calling for reform,” Mr Posner said.“Here [China] and elsewhere
we believe strongly that change occurs from within a society, so
discussions about human rights are not about us, but about how Chinese
citizens determine their own political future. Societies need to give
their own people an opportunity to voice and pursue their aspirations,”
he said.He also said the presidents of the two countries during
their meeting in January had agreed to convene a Legal Experts Dialogue
sometime in June this year.The bilateral human rights dialogue
began against the backdrop of Chinese government’s crackdown on Kirti
Monastery in Ngaba in northeastern Tibet’s Amdo Province.