Hillary's first foreign trip is stirring quite a bit of discussion on her diplomatic strategy. Before her meetings in Beijing, Clinton said she would raise human rights issues with Chinese officials, "but we pretty much know what they're going to say."
Clinton's comments have stirred outrage in the human rights community, where she was viewed as a hero for having confronted the Chinese government during the Clinton presidency. Activists say that without public, sustained international pressure on human rights issues, nothing will change in China.
"I think that to worry about something which is so self-evident is an impediment to clear thinking," Clinton said in defense of herself. "And I don't think it should be viewed as particularly extraordinary that someone in my position would say what's obvious."
In the Wapo article, people such as Johns Hopkins scholar and former Los Angeles Times reporter James Mann have characterized these remarks as an indicator that the importance of human rights will be downgraded as part of American policy toward China during the Obama years. "Is Hillary Clinton going to not mention women's rights to the Saudis because they already know what we think?" he said.
"Bill Clinton told the leader of China he was on 'the wrong side of history,' " Mann noted. "Now, Hillary seems to be giving them the reverse message: that China is on the right side of history."
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