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US, China wrap up rights talks
¡¥CONSTRUCTIVE AND CANDID¡¦: The two sides discussed issues
ranging from freedom of religion and expression, Tibet and the Uighurs to US
crime, poverty and racism
AP, WASHINGTON
Sunday, May 16, 2010, Page 7
The US and China reported no major breakthroughs on Friday after only their
second round of talks about human rights since 2002. A senior US official said,
however, that the two-day meeting lays groundwork for more regular talks to
soothe an irritant in relations between the two world powers.
Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, who led the US side, told reporters
that another round will happen sometime next year in Beijing. The countries also
plan to hold legal talks soon, and he said he would participate in a
high-profile economic and security summit in Beijing this month.
¡§In two days we¡¦re not going to change major policies or major points of view,
but we laid a foundation to continue,¡¨ Posner said. ¡§The tone of the discussions
was very much, ¡¥We¡¦re two powerful, great countries. We have a range of issues
that we are engaged on. Human rights is part of that discussion, and it will
remain so.¡¦¡¨
US President Barack Obama¡¦s administration wants to push Beijing to treat its
citizens better, but it also needs Chinese support on Iranian and North Korean
nuclear standoffs, climate change and other difficult issues.
This week¡¦s talks came as the countries try to repair ties after a rough period.
Obama infuriated China by recently announcing a US$6.4 billion arms sale to
Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing as its own, and by meeting with
the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader China calls a separatist.
Posner said in addition to talks on freedom of religion and expression, labor
rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about US
rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial
discrimination. He said the US side did not whitewash the US record and in fact
raised on its own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask
about a person¡¦s immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the
country illegally.
Wang Baodong (¤ýÄ_ªF), spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the
talks were ¡§constructive and very candid.¡¨
¡§We believe that such dialogues can contribute to the growth of the bilateral
relations,¡¨ Wang said.
The US was represented by officials from the State Department, White House, the
departments of Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, Labor, the trade
representative¡¦s office and the Internal Revenue Service. The Chinese side was
led by Director General for International Organizations Chen Xu (³¯¦°) and
included officials from nine agencies.
The officials discussed Tibet, the Uighur ethnic group in the Chinese province
of Xinjiang and specific dissidents the US has worries about. Posner would not
provide details, except to say the US raised the cases of Liu Xiaobo (¼B¾åªi), an
author-dissident serving an 11-year prison sentence on subversion charges, and
Gao Zhisheng (°ª´¼ÑÔ), a crusading Chinese rights lawyer.
Todd Stein, with the International Campaign for Tibet, said political repression
in China is growing. If officials want improvement in China¡¦s human rights
record, he said, the issue should be a focus of this month¡¦s high-profile
Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing.
¡§It would be a mistake if this dialogue resulted in a ¡¥check the box¡¦ exercise
that sidelined substantive engagement on human rights in any other arena,¡¨ Stein
said.
The officials spent part of Friday traveling around Washington for meetings,
including, Posner said, a visit to the US Supreme Court, where they were briefed
by retired Justice Sandra Day O¡¦Connor on rule of law.
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