President George W. Bush sought Thursday to focus world attention on religious persecution, singling out China and Sudan as two of the worst abusers of spiritual human rights. He cited the persecution of followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and of Buddhists in Tibet.
China aspires to national strength and greatness.
Bush's remarks are the latest sign that the administration is taking a harder line toward China. China is sensitive to criticism of its human rights record, which it considers an internal matter. The latest criticism from Bush comes at a tense time in U.S.-China relations after the standoff over a downed U.S. spy plane and the announcement that the administration is prepared to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. More than 2 million Sudanese have died in an 18-year civil war marked by the persecution of Christians and adherents of traditional Sudanese religions by the Islamic government. Bush's White House has come under pressure from both Christian activists and human-rights advocates to help Christians in Sudan.