Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. Credit: WikiCommons.

Beijing slams ‘really absurd’ move to rename street in front of its Washington embassy after imprisoned Chinese activist

Chinese diplomats on Wednesday said Congress’ decision to rename the street in front of Beijing’s embassy in the U.S. capital after a Chinese dissident is "really absurd" and motivated by concerns not entirely related to human rights.

On Tuesday the House Appropriations Committee voted to rename the street outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., to “Liu Xiaobo Plaza” — after a Chinese dissident who received the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia and is currently serving an 11-year prison term for subverting the government’s authority. Liu has called for an end to one-party rule in China.

The bipartisan move, led by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., would effectively have all correspondence sent to the Chinese Embassy addressed to No. 1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza.

“This attempt driven by some personal interests runs counter to the joint efforts by and interests of the vast majority of peoples in both China and the United States to pursue a win-win cooperative partnership between our countries,” Chinese Embassy spokesman Geng Shuang said.

“This amendment is really absurd.”

Wolf had not responded to an interview request from Al Jazeera at time of publication.

U.S. trade union United Steelworkers (USW) was among the key proponents of the bid to remind Chinese diplomats of the jailed dissident, according to a statement released by Wolf’s office late Tuesday....Continue Reading

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