THE MOST significant statements at the joint news conference of President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday came in response to questions about human rights. Asked how China's abuse of its own people affected relations between the two countries, one of the two leaders responded in a perfunctory manner, offered excuses for Beijing and concluded that disagreement on human rights "doesn't prevent us from cooperating in these other critical areas." The other forthrightly stated that "a lot still needs to be done in China in terms of human rights." Disappointingly, that first speaker was Mr. Obama; the relatively honest statement came from Mr. Hu.
In his prepared remarks, the president said he had raised human rights with Mr. Hu, but when invited by an Associated Press reporter to expand on the subject, he began with what sounded like an apology for the Chinese regime. "China has a different political system than we do. . . . China is at a different state of development than we are. We come from very different cultures and with very different histories."
Mr. Hu, by contrast, was more forthcoming. He said "China recognizes and also respects the universality of human rights," before conceding that it had more to do. "We will continue our efforts to promote democracy and the rule of law," he said, adding that China was prepared to reopen a dialogue with the United States on human rights issues. In fact, human rights have regressed under Mr. Hu's administration, so his promises don't have much credibility. Yet Mr. Hu at least formally recognized the need to move toward democracy. Mr. Obama's failure to do the same made him look more tolerant of dictatorship than the president of China. (Full story here)
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