U.S. and Hong Kong (2005)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
March 7, 2005

PRESS BRIEFING BY SCOTT McCLELLAN

12:55 P.M. EST

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Q: Question on human rights. Pro-democracy and pro-human rights leader in Hong Kong was forced by the Chinese authorities to resign, because he was talking about human rights and democracy in Hong Kong. And Chinese are protesting here about the human rights situation in China, and also this morning, on Capitol Hill, there was a conference, human rights violations, especially against women in Pakistan, and two provinces Sind and Baluchistan. Several congressmen were there and prominent people. As far as human rights are concerned, what -- where do we stand with President's views, because he -- of course, talking about democracy and --

MR. McCLELLAN: Promoting human rights and human dignity is always at the top of our foreign policy agenda. We have a strong commitment to promoting the dignity and rights of all people across the world. And that's why I was talking earlier about the importance of advancing freedom. Advancing freedom and democracy is the best way to ensure human dignity and human rights.

Q: Because this is also women's -- month for women's rights, global -- sponsored by the U.N.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's right.

Q: As far as women are concerned, around the globe they are being victimized by many countries and not allowed to --

MR. McCLELLAN: We work very closely with the United Nations to support the rights of women. And that's an effort that has been worked on in New York. And we're very much a part of those efforts.

Go ahead, and then Connie.

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END

1:37 P.M. EST

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