China Detains Dissidents Ahead of US Visit
From the Financial Times:
Chinese police have detained dozens of dissidents and political reform advocates ahead of US President Barack Obama’s first visit to China, according to family members and human rights activists.
The crackdown comes as human rights groups worry that Mr Obama, who arrived in China on Sunday, will play down China’s poor human rights record in order to get cooperation from Beijing on issues such as climate change, trade and the economy…At least 30 other activists who were expected to join one dissident in applying for the right to protest have also likely been detained, according to activists. They provided more than a dozen names of people whom they said had been detained.
“We get the impression Obama doesn’t want to talk about human rights on this trip, but it is precisely because of his visit here that these people are being rounded up and detained right now,” (stated Chinese artist and political blogger Ai Weiwei) … “We’re not asking him to give us human rights, but he’s coming here to make deals and advance US interests, and we think if he doesn’t talk about the real conditions here then he shouldn’t come.”
POSTED COMMENTS: 2 Responses
The US should only get involved in China’s human rights cases if there is gross violation of human rights. The US should not get involved in too many cases that might come from some grievances against the government because every nation has these kind of cases and they should resolved internally. This should be the principle. I do not think the US respond kindly if a Chinese comes here to visit any American Indian reservation to address their grievances. That is what soveignty is all about.
Every Country on this planet has human right problems whether it is America, Europe or China. People attack other about human rights issues never look themselves in the mirror. I think the human rights group has the most human rights problem.