In 1995, when she was first lady, Clinton won worldwide attention by strongly criticizing the Chinese for their human rights approach, including their one-child policy, during a United Nations women's conference in Beijing.
Yang said China would continue to discuss human rights issues with the Americans, but noted that in Beijing's view, such talks had to be based on "equality and mutual respect," as well as the principle of noninterference in other countries' affairs.
Yang, contending that most Chinese are not complaining about human rights, said, "You will see the biggest number of smiling faces here in China."
But activists complained bitterly Saturday about their treatment during Clinton's visit. Dissidents have been placed under house arrest and trailed by police to prevent them from getting anywhere near the secretary of State.
Among those who was detained was Zeng Jinyan, the wife of jailed activist Hu Jia. Zeng had tried to leave her home Saturday morning to meet with an AIDS activist who is scheduled to meet with Clinton today. Police officers stopped her, she said.
"Since this morning, I've been under house arrest. They are outside my house right now," Zeng said in a brief telephone interview.
Other rights activists were told that they could leave home only if they were escorted by police and that they were not permitted to meet with Clinton or any other U.S. officials, according to the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Renee Xia, the group's international director, said in a telephone interview from Washington that Chinese police had frequently detained dissidents when foreign dignitaries were visiting, but that activists had hoped for better treatment during this trip.
"It is a huge disappointment. We had very high hopes for Clinton and the Obama administration," Xia said. "The previous administration played the same game with putting human rights on the back burner, but the way it came out of her mouth, it was really shocking."
Clinton also met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and toured a high-efficiency natural-gas-fired power plant. U.S. officials hope China will turn more to such plants, rather than less efficient coal-fired facilities, to meet its enormous energy demands.
Clinton was to return to the United States today after attending services at a state-sanctioned church.
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paul.richter@latimes.com
barbara.demick@latimes.com
