本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Will the Asia trip mark a turnaround for Obama and be consequential for human rights or for the economy, two areas that especially involve the China portion of his trip? No sign yet that the actions of a diminished president will lead to progress on the economy. And every sign that progress won’t come on human rights, despite a letter to Obama two weeks ago from some 70 writers’ groups and human rights organizations that asked him to raise human rights issues during this visit.
A feature of Obama’s foreign visits, as with his foreign policy, has been his disregard of democracy and human rights activists and his deference to authoritarian leaders. In neither of his trips to the Islamic world did he disturb despots to defend women’s rights, civil rights or press freedoms. Neither did he disturb the status quo in Russia or at the Summit of the Americas, where he gave Hugo Chavez a photo-op. Neither has he defended democracy and human rights when at home: He refused to side with the protesters in the streets of Teheran after Iran’s fraudulent election. He even refused to see the Dalai Lama — the first U.S. president in almost 20 years to shrink from doing so.
In China, human rights activists are now preparing to be rounded up or subjected to house arrest — this is the government’s standard operating procedure in advance of visits from foreign dignitaries who symbolize democratic values. Many activists have long been in jail, among them Liu Xiaobo, a courageous writer and human rights activist who was widely considered to be on the shortlist to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
A feature of Obama’s foreign visits, as with his foreign policy, has been his disregard of democracy and human rights activists and his deference to authoritarian leaders. In neither of his trips to the Islamic world did he disturb despots to defend women’s rights, civil rights or press freedoms. Neither did he disturb the status quo in Russia or at the Summit of the Americas, where he gave Hugo Chavez a photo-op. Neither has he defended democracy and human rights when at home: He refused to side with the protesters in the streets of Teheran after Iran’s fraudulent election. He even refused to see the Dalai Lama — the first U.S. president in almost 20 years to shrink from doing so.
In China, human rights activists are now preparing to be rounded up or subjected to house arrest — this is the government’s standard operating procedure in advance of visits from foreign dignitaries who symbolize democratic values. Many activists have long been in jail, among them Liu Xiaobo, a courageous writer and human rights activist who was widely considered to be on the shortlist to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net