National Security Online Resource Center

Reports from China indicate that the Chinese government has forbidden activists to leave their homes while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Beijing. The wife of a jailed AIDS activist told CNN that the government said, “I can’t leave home at all, even to buy baby supplies. I have to rely on my relatives…”

This revelation is not the only example of Chinese human rights abuses to which Clinton has drawn attention. While on her visit, Clinton will attend a “state-approved church.” The Chinese are very generous toward those who practice Christianity, so long as they “worship in churches registered with the government.”

China is the world’s largest totalitarian regime. It has progressed since the days of Chairman Mao, but still remains a one-party communist state that denies the people basic human rights. While the economy is a more pressing issue for Secretary Clinton to address at the moment, she should not place human rights on the back burner. The United States may not be in the best position to pressure China to liberalize at the moment, but continuing to do so would remind the world that the United States is ready to champion the cause of liberty under any and all circumstances.