CHINA: Beijing's hopes of a smooth summit today between presidents Hu Jintao and George Bush were undermined yesterday amid new evidence that US internet firms in China co-operated in the crackdown on dissidents.
For a section of Congress where there is increasing unease about the growing trade gap and Beijing's human rights record, the discovery of a third instance in which Yahoo released data that led to the jailing of a dissident provides a powerful incentive for Mr Bush to demand concessions from Beijing.
In recent months Congress has been scathing about the business practices in China of US technology and internet firms, accusing Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems of acting as the willing accomplices to China's secret police in return for access to its markets.
The document released yesterday by Reporters Without Borders is likely to fuel those suspicions about doing business in China. It surfaced on a day when Congress was once again conducting hearings on China's human rights record.
Chris Smith, the Republican chairman of the human rights committee, accused Beijing of committing "egregious crimes against its own citizens daily".
Reporters Without Borders said the draft e-mail produced yesterday was used at a 2003 trial to sentence a dissident, Jiang Lijun (39), to four years in prison for subversive activities.
Such revelations looked likely to intensify the misgivings about doing business in China for a Congress which is already deeply mistrustful of Beijing.
"The president will have to discuss with President Hu all of the outstanding issues, and certainly the continued issues of suppression of individual human rights and press freedoms are among the core issues we have with the Chinese government," said Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat on the house human rights committee.
In anticipation of those tensions over trade and human rights, Mr Hu's visit began in Washington state - and not the American capital. He spent yesterday touring a Boeing plant and meeting China scholars and foreign policy experts, including Henry Kissinger.
The visible display of China's importance to two of America's corporate titans, Microsoft and Boeing, were viewed as a build-up to today's summit.
Last week, Chinese officials committed to a $5 billion package to buy 80 Boeing 737s in a deal timed to allay American concerns about the trade gap.