Corrective: As SOS, Hillary has raised the issue of Human Rights (China) and women's rights

[biopowertoday]

Clinton's Brand Of Diplomacy On Display In Asia

by Michele Kelemen

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke Friday at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. Getty Images

Day to Day, February 20, 2009 ·


.............She says the U.S. and its partners will still have to deal with the current government in Pyongyang, but she says everyone has to be thinking about what comes next.

The man she has tapped to do that for the Obama administration is Steven Bosworth, the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Bosworth is a former ambassador to Seoul. Now he's special representative on North Korea. Clinton said she's a real believer in using envoys.

"To me, this is how I like to operate," she said. "I think it enhances my ability to actually be effective globally. I don't think that one person in this world — given the complexity and intensity — could possibly handle all these portfolios without doing injustice to them.".........


............The 3,000 people in the auditorium jumped out of their seats to applaud Clinton, who told them that promoting women's rights will be a central mission for her as secretary of state.


"I view this not only as a moral issue but also as a security issue. I think it is imperative that nations like ours stand up for the rights of women. It is not ancillary to our progress, it is central."



a http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100919589
in Korea.
Good for her and good for Obama in picking her to represent all of us.


............

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/21/clinton.china.asia/index.html


Hillary in China:


........... Human rights, a traditional topic in discussions between the two countries, was broached during Saturday's meeting between Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who agreed to engage on a continuous discussion on the issue.

Clinton said both nations will continue to hold frank discussions on crucial human rights issues, such as Tibet and freedom of expression in China. In the past, Clinton has been an outspoken, staunch critic of China's human rights stance.

In a welcoming response, Yang said China was willing to discuss the often-contentious subject of human rights............

[biopowertoday]

1. Thanks to two other DU'er's who posted these links

within other threads.

Much appreciated.

[terisan]

2. I like her upfront statements. nt

[rvablue]

3. Thanks for posting this. Nothing like the whole truth and nothing but the truth! n/t

ed:sp

[biopowertoday]

6. I had read

a few misleading threads--the subject lines here on du. as I read the whole articles there was much more balance and information about what issues she addressed.


I am proud of her for addressing these issues--and of Obama for choosing her.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. K&R

[biopowertoday]

7. I 2nd that e-motion

[AtomicKitten]

5. She gave the Chinese a noogie on human rights violations: "We'll just have to agree to disagree."

[biopowertoday]

8. She does Obama -and all of proud.

[biopowertoday]

10. "China was willing to discuss the often-contentious subject of human rights......."

from the article above.

[biopowertoday]

9. WPOST today has a an article about Hillary's Listening Tour.p. A)!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/19/AR2009021903471.html?hpid=topnews:hi: :kick:

[Beacool]

11. Thanks for the post!!

Hillary is doing a fine job. People like to think of things in black and white, while diplomacy is about various shades of gray.

:hi:

[biopowertoday]

12. yes, you are right about that. Have a good day.

[PBS Poll-435]

13. Rec'd

A good read, and thank you for taking the time to put it together!

:-)

[biopowertoday]

16. thanks.

[GeorgeGist]

14. But rest assured Hillary ...

won't let Human Rights interfere with capitalism's entitlement to profit at humanities expense.

[GeorgeGist]

15. But rest assured Hillary ...

won't let Human Rights interfere with capitalism's entitlement to profit at humanity's expense.

edit for spelling error.

[AtomicKitten]

17. Human Rights Watch: Clinton Remarks Undermine Rights Reform in China

Clinton Remarks Undermine Rights Reform in China
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/human-rights-watch/clinton-remarks-undermine_b_168689.html

(New York, February 20, 2009) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments en route to China that contentious issues such as human rights "can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises," send the wrong message to the Chinese government, Human Rights Watch said today. Secretary Clinton also suggested that on human rights issues it "might be better to agree to disagree."

Human Rights Watch stressed, as it did in a letter to the secretary last week, that progress in each of these key areas is inseparable from securing progress in human rights. Freedom for the press, whistleblowers, and critics is essential to preventing environmental damage and defective products that threaten China and the world; labor rights abuses and the lack of rule of law destabilize China's economy which is part of a global economy; and unconditional aid to highly abusive governments destabilizes international peace and security.

"Secretary Clinton's remarks point to a diplomatic strategy that has worked well for the Chinese government - segregating human rights issues into a dead-end 'dialogue of the deaf,'" said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "A new approach is needed, one in which the US engages China on the critical importance of human rights to a wide range of mutual security interests."

In recent years, the Chinese government has made some progress on human rights issues, including enshrining in the Constitution the state's responsibility to protect and promote human rights, the adoption of new labor protections, and the relaxing of restrictions on foreign journalists inside China. These and other gains were made partly as a result of sustained international pressure; conversely, some of the issues on which the Chinese government has refused to improve are ones rarely raised publicly by other governments, such as human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government in the name of suppressing terrorism.

"A successful strategy for the US doesn't entail 'agreeing to disagree,' but rather convincing China it is in its own interest to protect dissent, peaceful protests, and the creation of a truly independent legal system," said Richardson. "Most importantly, ordinary people, workers, intellectuals, and even government and party representatives in China will also appreciate hearing the United States raise human rights issues in ways that echo their own day-to-day concerns about rule of law and government accountability."

To read the letter from Human Rights Watch to Secretary Clinton, please visit here: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/12/letter-us-secretary-state-hillary-clinton