BEIJING, March 21 – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on China Monday to work harder to improve human rights and urged the country’s communist rulers to allow people to practice religion freely, reports AFP.
“I raised with my interlocutors the questions of human rights and religious freedom and talked about the possibility of increased participation in the political process and the extension of personal freedoms for Chinese citizens,” she told a press conference.
“There has been some progress in the last few months and we expect progress to continue,” she added, referring to China’s human rights record.
In her talks with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Rice said she raised specific cases of alleged rights abuse and urged China to address them.
Last week, Washington announced that it would not be sponsoring a resolution condemning China at the UN human rights commission in Geneva, citing “progress” including the release of Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer.
US officials have said Kadeer’s release was part of “an orchestrated deal” with Beijing which also included statements on opening an International Committee of the Red Cross office in Beijing and accepting a visit by international human rights officials.
In return they would refrain from lodging a motion at the UN.
Rice also told China’s top leaders to improve relations with the Catholic Church and open dialogue with Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
“People must have the opportunity to exercise religious beliefs and religious traditions in an atmosphere free of intimidation,” she told a news conference.
She said China should not view religious communities as a force of instability.
Following her meeting with President Hu Jintao Sunday, Rice attended Palm Sunday services at a local church.
The lack of religious freedom in China is a major source of friction with the United States, which listed the country as a “source of particular concern” in an annual report on the subject.
The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 and direct ties between him and Beijing collapsed in 1993. They were renewed only in 2002.
Since then China and Tibetan representatives have met three times to discuss a possible return of Tibetan exiles.
