Dharamsala, Feb. 21: Chinese police are monitoring dissidents and confining some to their homes during this weekend’s visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, AP reported a rights group as saying on Saturday.
According to China Human Rights Defenders, the report said, several of those under watch had been signatories to “Charter 08,” an unusually open call for civil rights and political reforms that has garnered considerable attention since its release last December.
They include constitutional scholar Zhang Zuhua, who was told by police stationed outside his home since Friday that he would not be able to leave or meet visitors for several days, the rights group, a network of human rights activists that collects information on abuses, said.
Zeng Jinyan, the wife of imprisoned activist Hu Jia, was also barred from leaving home, the group said in a statement e-mailed to journalists.
China, however, Saturday said it would hold human rights dialogue with U.S., saying “Chinese constitution ensures the basic human rights of its people.” as Clinton arrived in the country on Friday on the last stop of her Asian tour.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made the remarks while meeting the press with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after their talks, state media said.
Rights groups have been dismayed by a statement from Clinton ahead of her arrival in Beijing that issues such as climate change, the world financial crisis and security threats like North Korea would likely take precedence in her discussions ahead of traditional U.S. concerns about human rights.
Amnesty International said Clinton had damaged future U.S. initiatives to protect human rights in China, while Human Rights Watch said she had overlooked the connection between strengthened legal protections and press freedoms and progress on the issues she cited.
“Secretary Clinton’s remarks point to a diplomatic strategy that has worked well for the Chinese government — segregating human rights issues into a dead-end ‘dialogue of the deaf,'” Human Rights Watch’s Asia advocacy director Sophie Richardson said in an e-mailed statement.
Ahead of her visit to China, Rights groups and Tibetan advocacy groups have pinned their hope on Clinton that she would appropriately address Human Rights and Tibet issues, among others, in her talks with Beijing.
