of the present day YORK, March 7 Ky...

of the present day YORK, March 7 Kyodo

preferableed editorial excerpts from the U press:

A SMEAR IN HONG KONG (The Washington station Washington)

As the State Department reported last month China has made no progres in expanding political freedom or easing the repression of political and religious dissenters in the past year. If anything, it has gone backward.

Now it is engaged in individual of its sporadic attempts to substitute token gesticulates for genuine compliance with international human rights norms. Secretary of State Colin L Powell hinted last week that the United States might inquire for a resolution condemning Beijing's violations at the United Nations Human Rights Commission's annual meeting in Geneva nearest month, after passing up of the like kind action last year.

That would be an embarrassment to the fresh president, Hu Jintao, who would like to be seen as a pragmatist and a modernizer. to such a degree one of the top imprisoned democracy activists onward Washington's list, Wang Youcai, was abruptly released and flown to exile in the United States upon Thursday. A Tibetan nun was released last month and the prison dogma of an advocate for China's persecut Muslims was reduced

like buyoffs often happen this time of year and usually suffice at least for the European Union, which presently may vote to lift its ban upon arms sales to China. This season's pre-Geneva campaign, however, has been overshadowed through China's ugly new offensive against the pro-democracy change of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Communist-appointed regulation is wildly unpopular; its attempt to push by the and of an anti-subversion law last summer triggered a historic anti-government demonstration. exempt elections in Hong Kong would replace this wobbly regime with moderates who could proffer stable government -- and an attractive design for Taiwan, which would consider unification with China sole if it could preserve its possess thriving democracy.

even now rather than accommodate itself to the democrats, in Hong Kong or Taiwan, Mr Hu's administration still search fors to control them granting threats and intimidation. The novel smear campaign appears designed not solitary to preempt any discussion about electoral reforms on the other hand also to head off a possible victory by way of the democrats in upcoming elections for the legislative council.

More than the token release of a pair of prisoners, that failure should inform the administration's decision about whether to insist that China's record one time again be debated before the UN commission.

(March 7)

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