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US, China to resume human rights dialogue

PTI

Chinese petitioners react as Chinese policemen attempt to remove them from the vicinity of the courtroom where a hearing in the case against Chinese human rights lawyers Tang Jitian and Liu Wei is taking place, in Beijing, China, on 22 April 2010. The two lawyers who represented a Falun Gong practitioner face the permanent loss of their legal licenses, a new government tactic to tighten its grip on human rights defenders.File photo/AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe/China

The United States said on Thursday it would resume dialogue with China on human rights next month after a two-year hiatus and would raise issues including Internet freedom and the role of lawyers.

The United States and China will hold the talks on 13-14 May in Washington, the first such session since May 2008, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

The two nations had initially planned to hold talks earlier this year but no date was set amid China’s anger over US arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Crowley said he expected the two countries to have a “candid discussion” on issues including religious freedom, Internet freedom and the rule of law.

He said he expected the two sides to discuss “the broader topic of Internet freedom and the availability of information to Chinese citizens”.

“We disagree with China as to what that represents,” he said.

China rigorously filters the Internet to block access to sensitive topics such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on democracy protesters and the banned Falungong spiritual movement.

Copyright © 2010 PTI

Published in Zee News