Congressman questions US-China human rights dialogue

A key American lawmaker has questioned the US-China human rights dialogue, saying that the talks have failed to produce discernible improvements in the deplorable human rights situation in China.
"It is striking that the human rights dialogue with the Chinese government rarely produces real results or changes. The content of these discussions is cloaked in secrecy, even with other policy makers, including Congress, and the broader human rights community," Congressman Frank Wolf, co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said yesterday.
"We are assured that behind closed doors the administration gave an impassioned defense of basic freedoms and human dignity. We are told that, privately, specific cases were raised. This approach has, time and again, failed to produce meaningful results," Wolf said.

"The imprisoned Catholic bishop, the detained blogger and the beleaguered human rights lawyer deserve far more than this administration has given them," the Virginia lawmaker said in a statement as the US-China Human Rights Dialogue kicked off in China.
Wolf referred to a recent Human Rights Watch report.
"Many of the United States' and other governments' past human rights dialogues with China have been largely a rhetorical shell, lacking in accountability, transparency, and clear benchmarks for progress," the HRW report said.
"The Chinese government often points to these dialogues as a human rights 'deliverable,' an end in itself, or insists that human rights issues can only be discussed in the context of a dialogue. None of the governments that pursue these dialogues with the Chinese government have established benchmarks to ensure meaningful progress," it said.