U.S. Moves on China Rights Resolution Despite Anger

Saul Hudson

In its annual report on human rights around the world, the State Department accused China of such abuses as extrajudicial killings and torture and said authorities were "quick to suppress" religious and political groups opposed to the government.

"We began 2003 with hopes that the incremental but unprecedented progress in China seen in 2002 would be continued and expanded. However, throughout the year, we saw backsliding on key human rights issues," the report said of China.

The criticism was sure to cause friction with China coming on the same day the communist nation hosted six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear programs in what has been considered a sign of closer U.S.-Sino cooperation.

The report also risked angering the reclusive communist state of North Korea, which despite its ideological differences and fears of a U.S. attack has agreed to the talks aimed at dismantling its suspected nuclear weapons program.

"Reports from North Korea continue to paint a bleak picture of one of the world's most inhumane regimes. ... Basic freedoms are unheard of," the State Department said, detailing allegations of abuse such as torture, forced abortions and infanticide in prison camps.

While the U.S. report is welcomed for highlighting abuses around the world, many rights groups accuse the United States of hypocrisy because of its own criticized record on issues such as the death penalty and its treatment of detainees in its war on terrorism.

THINK THRICE

This month, China told the United States to "think three times" about introducing a critical resolution at this year's session of the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Commission, but the U.S. diplomat overseeing Wednesday's report was not moved.

Asked if Washington would seek such a resolution, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner told reporters, "We are heading in that direction."

The United States also touched on another sensitive Chinese issue, criticizing the Beijing-backed government in Hong Kong for failing to announce a timetable for public consultations on moving toward full democracy.

Ties between the United States and China, often strained by disagreement over issues such as human rights, trade and Taiwan, have improved in recent years.

The top U.N. human rights watchdog, the 53-member commission in Geneva, begins its annual six-week session on March 16. Censure by the commission brings no penalties but spotlights a country's behavior.

The United States did not sponsor a resolution against China last year because Beijing had undertaken considerable reforms and was willing to let U.N. and American rights investigators enter the country.

U.S. officials say few promises have materialized and, even if such a resolution failed, the United States considers it important to air the grievances.

London-based human rights monitoring group Amnesty International has said hundreds of thousands of people are detained in China in violation of basic human rights.

China, the world's most populous country, insists fundamental human rights mean that feeding, clothing and housing its 1.3 billion people come first and individual rights take a back seat to the welfare of society.

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Source: "Reuters".