Hillary, China, and rights -- oh my!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog post in praise of the Obama administration's approach to foreign policy, as demonstrated via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Asia. I pointed out how we've quickly progressed from a policy of aggression, finger pointing, and fear mongering to a policy of warmth, listening, and learning -- exactly what is needed to repair our relationship with the rest of the world.

And the responses continue to find their way into my inbox.

Most of the responses I've gotten, aside from the usual abuse from right-wingers, have been from my human rights colleagues who point out that Secretary Clinton missed a big opportunity to pressure China on its human rights violations.

I've been responding to most of these comments individually. But, for the rest of you, here is a summary of my feedback on that point:

First of all, I hadn't set out to write about China's human rights record. The purpose of that post was to note the fact that the Obama administration is already demonstrating a more effective style of diplomacy and foreign policy than we've seen in the past eight years. Diplomatic style. Period.

That said, while writing it, I did think about throwing something in there about China's human rights abuses. But then I thought better of it. Not only was it not the point of that piece, but I felt that the U.S. is not yet in a position where we can judge others on human rights issues.

The Obama administration seems to be taking us there, slowly but surely. For instance, in January, Obama signed an executive order calling for closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay and an immediate review of all Guantanamo detentions, along with a requirement that intelligence gathering by U.S. agents comply with the Geneva Conventions.

That's a good start. But our human rights reputation in the world has declined so significantly over the past eight years that it will take more than just an executive order or two to restore our credibility.

In the meantime, to point the finger in China would likely be perceived as just another case of the pot calling the kettle black.

I look forward to seeing our reputation healed so that we can once again be that beacon of human rights and then be in a position to spread the goodness around the world.

In the meantime, though, it wouldn't hurt for Secretary Clinton to invite other world leaders (like China's) to work together with us to promote human rights, while pointing out that we are making every effort to get our own record back on track.