China Hides Its Dissidents

Any hopes that the visit to by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would improve that country's human rights were promptly dashed by the Beijing regime.

Secretary Clinton talking to China's President
Hu Jintao yesterday in Beijing. (EPA photo)

In preparation for Clinton's trip, which has been strongly criticized because of her unwillingness to deal with human rights issues, the Chinese police put several dissidents in house arrest and kept a close watch over many others, according to China Human Rights Defenders.

The Associated Press:

Several of those under watch had been signatories to "Charter 08," an unusually open call for civil rights and political reforms that has garnered considerable attention since its release last December.

They include constitutional scholar Zhang Zuhua, who was told by police stationed outside his home since Friday that he would not be able to leave or meet visitors for several days, said the group, a network of human rights activists that collects information on abuses.

Zeng Jinyan, the wife of imprisoned activist Hu Jia, was also barred from leaving home, the group said in a statement e-mailed to journalists.

Rights groups have been dismayed by a statement from Clinton ahead of her arrival in Beijing that issues such as climate change, the world financial crisis and security threats like North Korea would likely take precedence in her discussions ahead of traditional U.S. concerns about human rights.

Amnesty International said Clinton had damaged future U.S. initiatives to protect human rights in China, while Human Rights Watch said she had overlooked the connection between strengthened legal protections and press freedoms and progress on the issues she cited.

"Secretary Clinton's remarks point to a diplomatic strategy that has worked well for the Chinese government — segregating human rights issues into a dead-end 'dialogue of the deaf,'" Human Rights Watch's Asia advocacy director Sophie Richardson said in an e-mailed statement.