CHINA AND the United States concluded their strategic and economic dialogue in Washington yesterday, and while the talks were supposed to be about the economy, sharp criticism of China's human rights record dominated.
An ongoing major security operation by China has seen lawyers, writers and artists detained amid official concerns over unrest, inspired by violent protests in the Arab world, spreading to the world's most populous nation.
The talks were aimed at building on progress made during President Hu Jintao's visit in January.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton said the US had made its concerns known on a range of sensitive issues, including human rights. "We discussed everything, whether it was something sensitive to us or sensitive to them . . . including human rights. We made our concerns very clear," she said.
One figure who featured at the talks was detained artist Ai Weiwei. The talks took place as an important legal dateline passed in his detention, which has caused an international outcry. Mr Ai has been held for more than 37 days, the point at which suspects under Chinese law should either be formally charged or released.
There has been no official word about where he is being held or if he has been charged. Beijing says the detention of Mr Ai was because of economic crimes, a claim disputed by dissidents and rights groups.
Ms Clinton said in an interview with the Atlanticthat Beijing's human-rights record was "deplorable". "They're worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool's errand. They cannot do it. But they're going to hold it off as long as possible," she said.
China's top foreign-policy official, Dai Bingguo, said his country had made "historic progress" on human rights and any talks on the issue should be on the basis of "equality and mutual respect". He did not refer to the crackdown.
The state news agency Xinhua, whose views reflect those of the government, played down any disagreements. "The success of this round of talks embodies the candid attitude China and the United States have towards dealing with their disagreements," it said in a commentary. "The two days of talks showed that there is nothing scary about the bilateral disputes that exist. The key is to rationally deal with them, frankly face each other and find common ground amid the differences."
The issue of US anger over China suppressing its currency was not discussed, and was problematic as the dollar has fallen sharply.