Human rights showdown awaits Clinton in Beijing

BEIJING (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived Wednesday in Beijing, where a tense human rights showdown awaits over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer said to be under U.S. protection after escaping from house arrest....

WASHINGTON — Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng on Tuesday urged China’s people to end the communist-governed nation’s “leadership of thieves” and for Washington not to “give an inch” on human rights in its relations with Beijing. Chen made the comments as he received an award from a human rights group in a ceremony attended by several U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill. His speech was a stinging rebuke to authorities in China where he had faced years of persecution for his legal activism against forced abortions and for citizens’ rights.

AP - U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Beijing for high-level economic and strategic talks with Chinese leaders that will be dominated by efforts to win China's support to punish North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship.