In China, Michelle Obama calls for universal rights

March 22, 2014;

[USA Today]

BEIJING – The U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama called on China Saturday to respect universal rights including freedom of expression and religion, and open access to information.

First lady Michelle Obama plays table tennis as Peng Liyuan, right, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, looks on during their visit to the Beijing Normal School on March 21, 2014.
(Photo: Andy Wong AFP/Getty Images)

Her week-long trip, focused on education, embraces pandas, ping-pong and people-to-people diplomacy, but she used a speech at Peking University to push China to soften its authoritarian system.

“When it comes to expressing yourself freely, and worshipping as you choose, and having open access to information – we believe those are universal rights that are the birthright of every person on this planet,” Obama told an audience of Chinese and U.S. students at the Stanford Center of Peking University.

Without specifying her target, it was clear the remarks were aimed at China, which heavily censors the Internet, jails citizens who speak too freely on political subjects, and restricts religious groups.

In advance of her trip, the White House had stressed she would avoid sensitive subjects. Then First Lady Hilary Clinton annoyed China with strong remarks on human rights during a 1995 visit.

The first lady kicked off a week of diplomacy Friday, in the company of her Chinese counterpart, plus Obama’s mother and two daughters.

This weekend, Obama will give a speech on education at Peking University, visit the Great Wall outside Beijing, then travel Monday to the central Chinese city of Xi’an, and its famed terracotta warriors. The family hits Chengdu, in the southwest, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Obama will come closest to controversy on her very final scheduled activity – lunch Wednesday at a Tibetan restaurant in Chengdu.

During the past five years, over 130 Tibetans have tried to kill themselves through self-immolation to protest against Chinese rule. Most of them lived in ethnically Tibetan areas of Sichuan province, of which Chengdu is the capital.

Contributing: Sunny Yang