China signals greater tact on rights disputes with U.S.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state media on Wednesday sought to play down disagreements with the United States over human rights during their latest talks in Washington, signaling a more mature approach to tackling the thorny topic.

The official Xinhua news agency praised the frank nature of the talks, which mainly focused on trade and economic issues, and avoided the angry rhetoric which has come to characterize the Chinese response to rights criticism.

It also made no mention of comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was quoted by The Atlantic magazine as saying in an interview that China's current crackdown on dissent amounted to "a fool's errand."

"The success of this round of talks embodies the candid attitude China and the United States have toward dealing with their disagreements," Xinhua said in a commentary that would reflect Beijing's view of the Washington meeting.

"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," it added.

The United States did not shy away from criticizing China for its ongoing crackdown on dissent and jailing of rights defenders and other activists.

Yet China's response was markedly measured, sticking to its standard defense of its rights record and not threatening to stop talks on the issue, as has happened in the past.

"The history, culture, traditions and level of economic development are different for China and the United States," Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said in Washington.

"It is therefore completely normal for there to be a difference of opinions between us on the issue of human rights," Cui said, according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry.

In The Atlantic interview, published on Tuesday, Clinton also said that disputes over human rights would not stop U.S. engagement with China.

"We don't walk away from dealing with China because we think they have a deplorable human rights record," she said.

Over coming months China's heir-apparent Xi Jinping will host U.S. Vice President Joe Biden; President Barack Obama will also host APEC in Hawaii later in the year; and Xi will also visit the United States later in the year.

"After some rounds of give and take, both sides will calm down and get to the more important issues," said Wang Dong, professor of international relations at Peking University. "Both sides also realize they have much more important cooperation."

Still, the English-language China Daily warned in an editorial that preaching on human rights would "only lead to antipathy and delays cooperation on more immediate issues."

But it added: "We should look beyond these disputes and seek more common grounds to pave the way for pragmatic cooperation."

Despite some harsh words in the press, Nicholas Bequelin, a senior researcher in the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, said it was a sign of progress the rights issue had not caused a meltdown in Washington.

"The reality is that this is a two-way street, and when the U.S. chooses to be more realistic about the reality of the human rights situation in China, Beijing cannot throw a fit every single time," he said.

"There was a lot of theater and theatrics in saying that any mention of human rights would wreck the possibility of discussions, and the reality is different. China needs the U.S. as much as the U.S. needs China. This is encouraging in a sense. There's evidence of a more mature relationship."

(Editing by Don Durfee and Jonathan Thatcher)