WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared for talks Wednesday with her Chinese counterpart as aides defended against charges she is soft on human rights abuses in Tibet and other places.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood also said that Clinton will issue a statement on the 50th anniversary of the uprising in Tibet, which is Tuesday, but gave no immediate details.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is due to arrive in Washington on Tuesday, and will meet with Clinton on Wednesday, Wood added.
Wood expected the pair to discuss how to tackle the global financial crisis, climate change, North Korea’s nuclear program, China’s alleged harassment of a US navy ship in the South China Sea, and Tibet.
But Wood took exception to the latest criticism on her stance on human rights after The Washington Post said that Clinton continues “to undermine the US diplomatic tradition of human rights advocacy.”
It recalled that during her trip to China last month, Clinton said that alleged human rights abuses in China “can’t interfere” with efforts to deal with the financial crisis, climate change and security.
The editorial also charged that she took a soft line during her visit to Egypt and Turkey last week.
Material “written about the secretary not being firm or strong on human rights is just unfair and inaccurate,” the spokesman said.
“She’s very frustrated that there hasn’t been enough movement on a number of these issues, like Tibet, Belarus, other places,” Wood said.
“She realizes you have to sit down with for example her Chinese counterpart and make these points on human rights,” he said.
“But she also knows that’s not necessarily going to get you what you want at the end of the day, so you’ve got to find new and creative ways to influence the human rights situation in China and that’s what she’s trying to do,” he said.
US lawmakers and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have led pledges of support for Tibet to mark Tuesday’s 50th anniversary of the uprising that forced the Dalai Lama to flee.
Yang’s visit also comes after tension in the South China Sea.
The Pentagon said Monday that five Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to a US Navy ship, approaching within 25 feet of the unarmed surveillance ship.
The State Department protested to Chinese authorities over the alleged harassment of the US ship, which took place about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from China’s Hainan Island.
But China told the United States on Tuesday to stop what it called illegal activities in the South China Sea, as it rejected US allegations of harassment.
Yang is also due to meet US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in Washington on Wednesday, but Wood did not know if the meeting would be separate from Clinton’s.
