China still falling short on human rights, says US ambassador

THE US ambassador to China yesterday urged Beijing to improve its human rights record, pointing to imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 55, as an example of China’s failings.

In a statement released for the United Nations’s International Human Rights Day, envoy Gary Locke said protection of human rights in China had not kept up with its massive economic gains.

Locke said the imprisonment of Liu and restrictions on his wife, the disappearance of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, and the unlawful detention of citizens such as lawyer Chen Guangcheng, “do not bring China closer to achieving its stated goals”.

Related topics: