US Reduces Emphasis on Human Rights in Talks With China

This represents a departure from the practices of previous administrations, which more frequently raised concerns about activists, religious minorities and political prisoners during meetings with Chinese leaders. " The US president later told Fox News that human rights had been discussed during the two-hour summit, including the Jimmy Lai case and the situation of several detained pastors.

The Chinese leader was reported as "seriously considering" releasing the religious leaders, who were targeted during a crackdown on Christians. Relatives of the pastors welcomed the development.

US leaders took more visible positions on rights issues during visits to China. When George W Bush visited Beijing in 2008, he attended a Sunday church service to highlight religious freedom. During his state visit the following year, Barack Obama urged then-president Hu Jintao to reopen talks with the Dalai Lama.

In 2012 the Obama administration assisted the evacuation of blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng after he escaped house arrest. Support for such cases has been credited with improving prison conditions or reducing harassment for some Chinese activists, according to Thomas Kellogg, executive director of the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown University.

The reduced emphasis occurs as activists describe a worsening situation for human rights defenders in China. Since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, authorities have cracked down on civil society, punished feminist activists, narrowed space for religious and ethnic expression, and made crushing dissent a priority.

A network of re-education camps in Xinjiang held up to 1 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, according to estimates cited by the UN, which said the policies could constitute crimes against humanity. Beijing denies those claims. "These are very, very difficult times for human rights defenders," said Sophie Richardson, co-executive director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

" During the US president's first term, the administration took a more aggressive approach that included sanctions on officials linked to human rights issues in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Those policies were driven by officials who have since been sidelined.

" China has grown more confident in rejecting external criticism as its economy and military have expanded. In 2021 its State Council issued a report on human rights violations in the US that opened with the quote "I can't breathe," the final words of George Floyd.