Lawmakers want Pres. Obama to intervene in Chinese dissident case

GOP lawmakers and human rights groups on Monday urged President Barack Obama to intervene on behalf of a Chinese dissident.

Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) also criticized Obama for not publicly criticizing China’s human rights policies during his trip to China.

They said the administration should help Jiang Tianyong, a human rights leader who they said had been arrested and interrogated by Chinese authorities shortly after Obama concluded his trip to China last week. The lawmakers said he is now being monitored by police.

Smith also criticized Obama for not meeting with Jiang during his trip.

“This man embodies what is good and right and true and honorable in China today, boldly speaking out twice before human rights panel right here in this building, and the president of the United States wouldn’t even meet with him,” said Smith.

Jiang told Human Rights in China that he asked to see Obama at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and was told a meeting could not be arranged at that time.

Shortly after Obama left China, Jiang was arrested and interrogated, his wife was beaten, and he remains a target of the national police, according to the Republican lawmakers.

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