US Drops Censure of China on Human Rights

The US said on Friday it would not offer a United Nations resolution condemning China for human rights abuses, the first time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre that Washington has not tried to censure the Beijing government.

The decision, made by the White House, is the latest sign of the improving ties between the US and China as a result of the war on terrorism and China's muted opposition to the war in Iraq.

The annual UN debate over its human rights record had been a continual source of embarrassment to China, even though the US was never able to muster enough support in the 53-nation UN Human Rights Commission to pass a censure resolution.

The commission, currently chaired by Libya, includes many countries with poor human rights records, and has repeatedly rejected US resolutions on China. The US last year was denied a seat on the commission and was unable to offer any resolution.

Philip Reeker, a US State Department spokesman, said the decision this year was a result of some improvements in China's human rights record, and a desire by the US to allow the new leadership in Beijing to build on that progress.

But the move comes just two weeks after the State Department's annual human rights report condemned China, saying that its "human rights record throughout the year remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses".

While noting some positive developments in the release of dissidents and other areas, the report said progress was derailed last year by the arrests of democracy activists, trials of labour leaders and the imposition of death sentences against two Tibetan dissidents.

Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director of Human Rights Watch Asia, said the US decision "will undermine those in China who are trying to bring about reform and change".

Human rights groups have criticised the administration of President George W. Bush for largely ignoring human rights violations in its efforts to build international support for the war on terrorism.

US military sales and foreign aid have increased significantly to countries such as Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan that the State Department has cited for repeated abuses.

China has taken advantage of the war on terrorism to launch a crackdown against Muslim Uighur separatists in north-western China.

Nicholas Lardy, a China expert at the Institute for International Economics, said the US decision was likely in part a reward for China not playing a leading role in opposing the US war in Iraq.

The US also needs Chinese co-operation to resolve the nuclear weapons crisis in North Korea.