Obama Coming Up Short on Human Rights

State Dept. report drops China from top 10 worst abusers despite poor record

(NEWSER) - The State Department has taken China off its list of the world's 10 worst human rights abusers, the New York Times reports. China's human rights record "remained poor," the department's annual report said, with abuses including "extrajudicial killings, torture, and coerced confessions of prisoners." Officials declined to explain why the country was dropped from the list or whether it had anything to do with the Beijing Olympics. More»

(NEWSER) - Though Obama advocated a confrontational approach to Sudan on the campaign trail, his administration will announce a somewhat soft policy toward the country on Monday. Ending months of internal wrangling, the policy is designed use to "pressure and incentives" to bend the government to address US concerns over the killings in Darfur and a slow-to-be-implemented peace accord between the north and south, along with fears that Sudan may provide a haven to terrorists. More»

US-drafted measure strengthened by Obama appearance at meeting

(NEWSER) - The UN Security Council today adopted a US-drafted resolution that outlines much of President Obama’s plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The president’s attendance at the meeting of heads of state—just the fifth in UN history—underscores the centrality of the issue for his administration. Though the measure passed unanimously, the US was not able to convince Russia and China to include Iran and North Korea by name, notes the Washington Post. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama opened bilateral talks with China today with a friendly speech, saying the US-China relationship would “shape the 21st century” and highlighting areas in which the nations have common interests, like nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and the global economy. He also touched on climate change, noting that the US and China are the world’s top energy consumers. “Common sense calls upon us to act,” he said. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama and Hu Jintao of China met today at the G20 summit in London and agreed to close cooperation on issues ranging from the economic crisis to global security, Time reports. Obama will travel to China later this year. Meanwhile, high-level representatives will meet in Washington during the summer to launch a "strategic and economic dialogue.” More»