"During your visit, we urge you to raise critical issues of religious freedom and the rule of law with Chinese officials, seek meetings with prominent human rights defenders and repressed religious leaders, and make a strong public statement about the importance of human rights to the future of U.S.-China relations," the commission wrote.The letter, sent to the White House by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, is also specific in its requests, citing names of persecuted dissidents it wants Obama to bring up.
"The trip is an opportunity to dispel any notion that human rights and religious freedoms are not priorities, and to set the record straight on any of the Administration’s prior statements on the place of human rights in our bilateral relationship with China," it added.
(...)
"The Chinese government has accommodated some religious practice, but repression of peaceful religious activity remains intense and widespread, focusing on unregistered Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners and religious groups the government considers ‘evil cults,’" the commission wrote.
"In Tibetan and Uighur areas of China, repression of religious freedom has created deep resentments that cannot be mitigated by the inappropriate use of force or other repressive measures. Repression of peaceful Uighur and Tibetan religious practice has fueled, not solved or resolved, ethnic unrest," the commission added.
I'll be watching closely for any evidence that Obama actually does this.
If he just goes to some news conference and announces that he "brought it up with the Commies privately", that means that he actually didn't, but is lying about it.
It should be brought up in front of, say, a million Chinese citizens who will hear it live and in person. This way the Commies can't censor it.
Wishful thinking, I know.
