The White House on Thursday expressed “deep concern” about the treatment of human rights advocates in China, just days before US President Barack Obama visits Beijing for the APEC summit.
US National Security Advisor Susan Rice made the comments as she met US and Chinese rights advocates, a White House statement said, adding that “they discussed the deterioration of China’s human rights situation.”
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the relationship between the US and China, the world’s top two economies, was the “most consequential” in the world today, and that it needed to be “carefully managed.”
However, the two major powers have clashed repeatedly in recent times, with Beijing last month warning Washington to keep its nose out of the democracy protests that roiled Hong Kong for weeks.
Students calling for full democracy for Hong Kong have blocked roads leading into three of the territory’s most economically and politically important districts for weeks, drawing condemnation from Beijing and the Hong Kong government.
Rice and the rights advocates discussed “prospects for reform, and recommendations on how the United States can constructively encourage improvements in human rights conditions in China,” said the White House statement, released just as Kerry flew to Beijing to join Asia-Pacific foreign ministers ahead of the APEC summit.
“National Security Advisor Rice expressed the [US] administration’s deep concern regarding the treatment of human rights defenders,” the statement said.
“Ambassador Rice emphasized the United States view that the advancement of human rights and the rule of law supports stability and prosperity in all countries, including China,” it said.
Obama is to visit Beijing from Monday to Wednesday for the summit and is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty Inernational yesterday urged Beijing to release at least 76 people detained in China for supporting Hong Kong’s democracy protests before the start of the APEC summit.
“APEC leaders must end their recent silence on the crackdown against mainland Chinese activists expressing support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters. Political convenience should not trump principled action,” Amnesty International East Asia research director Roseann Rife said.
“The leaders should take this opportunity to speak out and urge President Xi to ensure all those detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are immediately and unconditionally released,” she said in a statement.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Amnesty’s statement.
Amnesty said the detentions in China have been especially concentrated in Beijing, as well as the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen that abut Hong Kong.
People have been held for putting pictures online with messages of support, planning to go to Hong Kong to take part in the protests or shaving their heads in solidarity, it said.
The government has stepped up security in Beijing ahead of the summit. Amnesty said some activists had been forced to leave the city, including dissident Hu Shigen (胡石根).
“The latest wave of detentions is part of a concerted attack on fundamental freedoms since President Xi took office. It makes a mockery of Xi’s recent claims that the rule of law and human rights will be fully respected in China by 2020,” Rife said.
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