US, China hold summit amid rights crackdown
Cybercrimes, territorial dispute seen to top agenda
WASHINGTON—The United States has warned that the toughest crackdown in years on Chinese activists threatens to cloud the high profile state visit of President Xi Jinping.
Yet human rights is unlikely to dominate the agenda when Xi is welcomed to the White House on Friday.
Other issues are expected to get top billing on the summit table. Prime US concerns are cybercrime, China’s island-building in the disputed South China Sea and building momentum for a global deal to combat climate change.
But human rights will still get attention.
Since taking the presidency in 2013 and becoming the most powerful Chinese leader in three decades, Xi has cracked down on the encroachment of what he views as Western-style freedoms in China’s increasingly prosperous and connected society. His administration has also tightened controls on religious minorities. There is even a government campaign to remove crosses and demolish Christian churches in an eastern province—a move that has drawn condemnation in the US Congress.
Ten US senators have voiced concern over Xi’s “extraordinary assault” on civil society ahead of the pompfilled summit. This summer, Chinese authorities rounded up more than 250 human rights lawyers and associates. According to Human Rights Watch, 22 are still being held.
“The United States is not short of entry points to discuss human rights with China,” said Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch. “The United States is in an excellent position to make the case that better human rights protections are not just about defending the activist community in China.”
At a dialogue with China on the issue last month, Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski said that improvements on human rights were needed by China to set a positive tone for the summit.
But when David Saperstein, the US ambassador at-large for religious freedom, visited China a couple of weeks later, authorities detained a Christian lawyer the day before Saperstein was due to meet him. They also detained and harassed other religious figures whom Saperstein met. The ambassador called the actions “outrageous.”
“The Chinese government recognizes that there will be no cost in their relationship with the United States for continuing to crack down. And if there’s no cost, then of course they are going to continue what they’re doing,” said Carolyn Bartholomew, a member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission which advises Congress.