AFP: US ambassador to China slams Beijing over human rights (Excerpt)

Monday, 25-Nov-2002 5:00AM Story from AFP

BEIJING, Nov 25 (AFP) - US ambassador to China Clark Randt vowed Monday to bring China to task over its dismal human rights record, despite a recent warming trend between Beijing and Washington.

The US diplomat also demanded substantive results from a December 16 US-China dialogue on human rights in Beijing.

"If China wants to be accepted as both a respected and responsible member of the international community, then China must abide by certain internationally-accepted forms of behavior," Randt told members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.

"During my tenure as ambassador I have continuously and persistently raised cases of prisoners of conscience as well as humanitarian cases involving victims of China's evolving legal system... No other single issue receives more of my personal attention."

[...].

China's legal system is "a system that is all too often marred with a lack of due process and a blatant disregard for its own rules," Randt said.

"We demand more than talk; we demand results," from the upcoming dialogue, he said.

Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights Lorne Craner was to lead the US delegation in the first such talks since October 2001.

[...]

The ambassador also urged that US companies doing business in China use their clout to promote human rights and religious freedom by establishing systems of corporate responsibility.

"American companies and their representatives in China can and should lead by example. One important way American companies can contribute in this regard is through good corporate social responsibility programs," he said.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ba/Qchina-us-rights.RtiL_CNP.html