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China halts
rights talks with U.S.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
BEIJING, China -- China has suspended its human
rights talks with the United States, one day after
Washington said it would submit a resolution to the
United Nations condemning Beijing's record.
"The Chinese side cannot but immediately halt
bilateral human rights dialogue and exchanges," Shen
Guofang, assistant foreign minister, told U.S.
Ambassador Clark Randt, according to a Chinese foreign
ministry statement.
The United States on Monday urged a U.N. watchdog
meeting in Geneva to condemn China's "backsliding" on
human rights, despite Beijing's warning the move could
affect warming Sino-U.S. ties.
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
Washington is disappointed by Beijing's failure to
keep promises made during talks between the two
nations in 2002 and its failure to follow through on
its stated intention to expand cooperation on human
rights in 2003.
"Our goal in sponsoring this resolution is to
encourage China to take positive, concrete steps to
meet its international obligations, to protect human
rights, and fundamental freedoms of the Chinese people,"
Boucher said.
Washington says China's rights record last year
deteriorated with such abuses as extrajudicial
killings, torture and the repression of religious and
political groups opposed to the government.
Among other things, China has been under the spotlight
for how it treats political detainees, the Falun Gong
spiritual movement and Muslim Uighurs in the country's
far west.
The U.S. decision came just weeks after China released
from prison democracy activist Wang Youcai and a
Tibetan nun, and cut the jail term of ethnic Uighur
businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer -- all cases the United
States has brought up in the rights dialogue.
'Think three times'
Rights groups see such moves as a step in the right
direction, though largely symbolic, and continue to
protest China's record.
Washington decided against such a censure last year
and China told the United States to "think three times"
about introducing a critical resolution.
At its annual legislative session this month, China's
lawmakers added the first-ever mention of human rights
to the constitution, though it was ambiguous and made
no reference to political freedom.
Shen said Washington went back on its word to announce
the resolution and said "the United States should bear
all consequences that might arise from this."
China has had dialogues on human rights with the
United States, the European Union and other
governments since the mid-1990s.
But China has also taken a firm stand on criticism of
its human rights record, and has suspended dialogue
with the United States before, considering it to be an
internal matter.
The United States has called on the international
community, particularly the European Union, to support
the resolution.
A condemnation from the 53-member U.N. Human Rights
Commission in Geneva, which began its six-week session
last week, brings no penalties but spotlights a
country's behavior.
While the United States targets abuses of individual
liberties, China insists that protecting basic human
rights means sheltering, clothing and feeding its 1.3
billion people, and preserving social stability.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this
report
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