WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and top members of his administration raised concerns Monday about Beijing’s recent security crackdown on democracy advocates during the first day of high-level talks between the nations.
Obama “underscored his support for the universal human rights of freedom of expression and worship and of access to information and political participation,” the White House said in a statement after his meeting with Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, the leaders of a large official Chinese delegation.
Obama’s comments came after Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton argued earlier Monday that China’s security crackdown, the largest in years, threatened the country’s long-term stability, which the U.S. side said depended on a respect for human rights.
The sparring occurred as the nations began two days of talks aimed at addressing disputes in foreign-policy and economic areas under discussions that began in 2006 during the Bush administration. But the dispute over human rights threatened to overshadow other issues at this week’s meetings.
In recent months, Chinese authorities have pursued a crackdown that has involved a large number of arrests of lawyers, activists, journalists and bloggers. The crackdown was widely viewed as a Chinese response to forestall any Middle East-style pro-democracy demonstrations.
During the opening ceremony, Biden said Obama believed strongly that protecting fundamental rights and freedoms was “the best way to promote the long-term stability of any society.” Clinton said China’s actions on human rights had an impact beyond its own borders, including triggering a domestic political backlash in the United States.
Dai said in his opening remarks that China had made progress in the area of human rights, but he did not discuss the recent security crackdown.
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