Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set a new tone Saturday for U.S. relations with China, saying the two nations would join a common battle against global warming even as they look for ways to pull the world out of economic turmoil and recession.
Clinton cited the "tremendous opportunity" before Washington and Beijing as they unite on "one of the most important issues that has ever, ever faced humanity."
She side stepped the "tremendous opportunity" before Washington and Beijing to unite on an even more important issue that has ever, ever faced humanity.
What can you expect from a politician. Money and economics always wins out over human rights. There just isn’t enough money to be made in human rights.
To the apparent relief of China, Clinton downplayed issues of human rights and religious freedom, saying they were raised in her meetings but that the administration of President Barack Obama saw advantage to working with Beijing on areas of greater agreement.
Several human rights groups decried Clinton's suggestion that human rights would not be a priority in U.S. engagement with China. Amnesty International said it was "shocked and extremely disappointed."
Another advocacy group, China Human Rights Defenders, said police confined some dissidents to their homes during Clinton's weekend visit to Beijing.
Among those under lockdown was constitutional scholar Zhang Zuhua, one of hundreds of dissidents who late last year signed Charter 08, which calls for greater civil rights and political reforms.
Thankfully, human rights groups will not allow China’s continued human rights violations to go unnoticed, even when ‘our leaders’ will.
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