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sinboyDespite setbacks, it looks like the Obama administration has managed to get China to agree to let Chen Guangcheng into the US on a student visa. This is impressive, because if the hardliners had a choice, he'd be held incommunicado under house arrest pretty much forever.
Not content with criticizing Obama for letting him out fo the embassy in the first place, Republicans are pushing for preemptive asylum
This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard of from them. They want to grant asylum to someone who's NOT IN THE US. Someone who's hope of getting TO THE US is based on getting here quietly, and without agitating the PRC leadership. How the fucking hell do the expect him to be allowed out of the country if they have already offered him asylum? If we do that in advance, PRC hardliners will clamp down on him like a vise.
The only explanation that fits the facts is that, having notice that Obama actually managed a diplomatic victory despite overwhelming odds, Republicans are deliberately destroying it. I can't believe they're so stupid and inept, and ignorant of the reality of how asylum works.
Right, well, "speaking out assertively and unapologetically for basic human rights" is, in fact, endangering Chen's exit from China. The more Republicans make China look like a bad guy, the more China is going to clamp down on Chen. You can speak up when he's safe. Not when speaking up puts him and his family in danger you IDIOTS.
Not content with criticizing Obama for letting him out fo the embassy in the first place, Republicans are pushing for preemptive asylum
This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard of from them. They want to grant asylum to someone who's NOT IN THE US. Someone who's hope of getting TO THE US is based on getting here quietly, and without agitating the PRC leadership. How the fucking hell do the expect him to be allowed out of the country if they have already offered him asylum? If we do that in advance, PRC hardliners will clamp down on him like a vise.
The only explanation that fits the facts is that, having notice that Obama actually managed a diplomatic victory despite overwhelming odds, Republicans are deliberately destroying it. I can't believe they're so stupid and inept, and ignorant of the reality of how asylum works.
Because Chen and his wife and two children have yet to obtain a passport and visa, much less leave China, human rights experts expressed worries on Saturday that the two senators’ non-binding resolution might unnecessarily inflame the situation and endanger the newly brokered deal.
“I’m not sure I understand what the purpose is,” said one human rights advocate, who requested anonymity because of ongoing human rights work with members of Congress. “You pass resolutions when it’s something you think the administration isn’t going to do that you think should be done. But they are already trying to get Chen out. It’s hard to see over the longterm that this doesn’t fall into the category of making political hay.”
The offices of both senators both declined to comment on the record about the planned resolution on Saturday. But a Republican aide speaking on background said, “This isn’t about politics – this is about speaking out assertively and unapologetically for basic human rights and protecting those who seek to secure those rights. That’s the purpose of this resolution.”
Right, well, "speaking out assertively and unapologetically for basic human rights" is, in fact, endangering Chen's exit from China. The more Republicans make China look like a bad guy, the more China is going to clamp down on Chen. You can speak up when he's safe. Not when speaking up puts him and his family in danger you IDIOTS.