Visiting US President Barack Obama stressed the US’ belief in fundamental human rights to his host, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), yesterday, but the two sides acknowledged differences over the thorny issue.
“I spoke to President Hu about America’s bedrock beliefs that all men and women possess certain fundamental human rights,” Obama told journalists following the two leader’s summit as the Chinese president looked on.
“We do not believe these principles are unique to America, but rather they are universal rights and that they should be available to all peoples, to all ethnic and religious minorities,” he said.
Obama, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month, has been criticized by rights groups for downplaying the rights issue to secure Chinese support in addressing the global financial recovery and terrorism.
A joint statement issued after their talks suggested little if any progress was made on the rights issue during the leaders’ discussions.
“Both sides recognized that the United States and China have differences on the issue of human rights,” the statement said.
However, it added that the two sides agreed to resume a human rights dialogue in Washington before the end of February.
“We will continue to act in the spirit of equality, mutual respect, and ... non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and engage in dialogue and exchanges on such issues as human rights and religion in order to enhance understanding, reduce differences and broaden common ground,” Hu said.
Obama has also taken flak for avoiding an encounter with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama last month in Washington so as not to upset Beijing before his high-stakes debut visit in China.
Obama called for the resumption of on-again, off-again talks between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama over Tibet’s status, while recognizing that the region is a part of China.
On Monday, during a town hall-like meeting with youths in Shanghai, Obama insisted that the US would always speak out for its core principles.
“These freedoms of expression and worship — of access to information and political participation — we believe are universal rights,” Obama told the students.
“They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities — whether they are in the United States, China, or any nation,” he said.
Although his statements were carried widely on the Internet, China’s state-controlled press largely avoided all mention of the rights issue, instead focusing on other aspects of the visit.
Speaking yesterday during a visit to Italy, the Dalai Lama said he appreciated Obama’s appeal to Chinese leaders to hold talks with him over the situation in Tibet.
However, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said he realized that “limits” existed beyond which the US was not able to express itself on the Tibetan issue, ANSA news agency reported.
The Dalai Lama made the remarks as he met local authorities in the northeastern city of Bolzano.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS