Chinese Media Ignores Human Rights Comments
The Washington Post reports:
BEIJING - The BBC television report was airing a clip from Wednesday's Obama-Hu news conference at the White House, on the touchy topic of human rights. "A lot still needs to be done . . . ," Chinese President Hu Jintao started to say.
And then the television report went black.
Hu's state visit to the United States has prompted saturation media coverage in China, with largely upbeat reports heralding, in the words of one newspaper headline, "a new chapter in relations." There has been in-depth reporting on the trappings of the visit, including the red-carpet welcome, the star-studded guest list for the state dinner and the $45 billion in deals signed for U.S. exports.
But largely missing from official Chinese news media reports of the trip - and from the foreign television spots that are subject to government censorship - has been the back-and-forth between President Obama and Hu over human rights.
At the news conference, after initially avoiding a reporter's question, Hu made what was considered an unusual allowance, saying China needed to make more progress in protecting its citizens' individual freedoms.
"China is a developing country with a huge population, and also a developing country in a crucial stage of reform," Hu said. "In this context, China still faces many challenges in economic and social development. And a lot still needs to be done in China, in terms of human rights."
Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency that provides most of the reports for local news media, mentioned only in passing that Obama and Hu held a joint news conference. There was no transcript or details of the questions and answers.
