US: Olympic Host China Lacks Freedoms
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4429558US Lists Rights Abuses in China, Russia, Iraq, Others in Annual Report
By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic WriterWASHINGTON Mar 11, 2008 (AP)
The United States branded China an authoritarian human rights abuser Tuesday, citing alleged torture, state control of basic aspects of daily life, tight controls on religion and harassment of foreign charities.
China, host of the summer Olympics, has rampant and chronic human rights problems despite rapid economic growth that has transformed large parts of Chinese society, the State Department said in its annual accounting of human rights practices around the world.
The world's most populous nation, China is an increasingly important U.S. trade partner and a chief competitor with the United States for energy and shrinking natural resources. It is the object of broad U.S. economic and diplomatic outreach, with mixed results.
The United States, other nations and outside advocacy groups have tried to use the world media attention and prestige associated with the Olympics to leverage internal change and diplomatic cooperation from China, but the games are barely mentioned in the human rights report.
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"The government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, particularly in anticipation of and during sensitive events, including increased efforts to control and censor the Internet," the report said.
Forced relocations went up last year, the report said. It noted claims that people were forced from their homes to make way for Olympic projects in Beijing.
President Bush plans to attend the Olympics this year. Visiting U.S. lawmakers would get help from the U.S. Embassy for a "safe, memorable and enjoyable experience," the U.S. ambassador in Beijing wrote in a letter last year.
The report detailed the lengths some Chinese officials have taken to enforce their country's well-known "one child" policy, and gave a chilling account of alleged torture in China, including the use of electric shocks, beatings, shackles, and other forms of abuse. It includes an account of a prisoner strapped to a "tiger bench," a device that forces the legs to bend sometimes until they break.
Lydia's commentary:
Ever since winning the bid to host the Olympics 2008, China has been receiving much scrutiny under worldwide press regarding its efforts to spruce up the city for this event. Yes, I do agree that it has made China more well-known and recognised on the international platform on its every move, yet, this has proven to be a double-edged sword. The state has been criticized by the West on its dirty history of human rights abuse during the draconian One-Child Policy and political experiments Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Much of the stories have been laid out right in fron of the world to comment and I believe it has been hard on the government to justify for its past leaders actions. While I do believe that China has earned itseld as a country worthy of mention with its significant economical changes, it is hard for them to stay away from its haunted and tainted past.
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