Biden Must Stand Up to China on Human Rights

Raise human rights in meetings with senior Chinese government officials. Speak publicly and clearly about abuses instead of only to diplomats behind closed doors. Put the rights of China’s 1.4 billion citizens on the agenda in all major interactions with Chinese policymakers, whether these concern trade, climate change, or anything else.

Such were the entreaties Human Rights Watch made of successive U.S. administrations for decades. Had the United States complied with them before Xi Jinping came to power, it would have done the bare minimum to promote human rights in China. Today the demands are laughably insufficient. As the