PrintFebruary 22, 2009
Clinton throws Tibet under the bus
In another instance of what Rick Moran calls Our Keystone Cops Foreign Policy--but replacing comedy with tragedy--when we will begin to "pine for the days of the Bush Administration's competency," our brand new Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who touted her experience would make her a more competent president,
said the United States would continue to press China on long-standing US concerns over human rights such as its rule over Tibet.
"But our pressing on those issues can't interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis," Clinton told reporters in Seoul just before leaving for Beijing.
Uhm, Hillary. Granted I don't have your experience but human rights issues do interfere and intersect with these other crises. Quick, superficial examples abound--workers without human rights are not the most efficient, intensifying "the global economic crisis" and people without human rights don't care about their immediate environment which some claim affects "the global climate crisis" as still yet another deadly mine accident.demonstrates.
Allowing China to ignore Tibet's borders and integrity will encourage other countries to do the same enlarging the "security crisis" in oh say, Iran overrunning Iraq's borders which it is prone to do or Syria expanding and intensifying its sovereignty over neighboring Lebanon. And certainly with your experience and access to information you can add much more to this.
Momentarily diverting their attention from Israel,
T. Kumar of Amnesty International USA said the global rights lobby was "shocked and extremely disappointed" by Clinton's remarks.
"The United States is one of the only countries that can meaningfully stand up to China on human rights issues," he said.
"But by commenting that human rights will not interfere with other priorities, Secretary Clinton damages future US initiatives to protect those rights in China," he said.
Not only does this attitude damage future US initiatives to protect human rights in China it negatively impacts future US initiatives to protect human rights anywhere.
Once again, had Bush or McCain or any Republican responded this way about China's human rights policy the roar from liberals and the MSM would have been deafening (rightly so) and the Tibet loving ribbon wearers at tonight's Academy Awards would have injected some nasty words denouncing the Republicans. But since it is liberal Clinton working for the sacred Obama, whatever objections there are will be muted.
And the Tibetans and others will continue to suffer.
