Bob Fu addresses White House’s remark that First Lady won’t focus on human rights ‘at all’

Michelle Obama (Photo from Wikipedia)

China Aid Association

(Midland, Texas—March 21, 2014) “When the U.S. First Lady touches down on China’s soil, it is certainly beyond a ‘personal visit.’ While she may choose to focus her issues on ‘people-to-people relations’ or ‘youth empowerment,’ she should not forget to connect with many of those Chinese people who are being suppressed by the ‘Internet Berlin Wall,’” Bob Fu, China Aid’s founder and president, said regarding the White House’s remark that the First Lady wouldn’t be addressing human rights “at all.”

“The First Lady’s trip…is a missed opportunity that will be portrayed by China’s leaders as evidence of America’s weakness. There is no such thing as a ‘politics free’ trip in the eyes of Beijing’s leaders,” Fu said.

“She should not neglect freedom fighters like the brave human rights heroine Ms. Cao Shunli,” Fu said. Cao passed away in custody on a week ago today from conditions aggravated by limited medical access.

“The First Lady would become an instant hero in China if she tried to visit Liu Xia or sought to comfort the family of Cao Shunli.” Liu Xia is the wife of jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xia has been under extrajudicial house arrest since her husband’s arrest in 2009.

Fu also said that if First Lady Michelle Obama is so intent on focusing on families and children, “she should talk about China’s many daughters such as Ms. Ti-Anna Wang and children of other persecuted faithful who fathers are in prison for speaking peacefully for democracy and human rights.”