Comments on: Did Hillary Clinton Stand Up to Beijing in 1995?

By: Dinocrat » Blog Archive » “I…stood up to the Chinese government on human rights and women’s rights”

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:41:55 +0000

[...] is Mrs. Clinton’s speech from 1995 (HT: Adam Minter). Its 2182 words mention Beijing once and China never, though the NYT credited her with speaking [...]

By: Phillip_Z

Phillip_Z — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:37:06 +0000

So Hillary exaggerated. What else is new?

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:51:37 +0000

Hmm. I’m in two minds.
For me I think the problem is that her use of “stood up to” implies some kind of Tianmn Tank Man or crusading dissident kind of thing, which this clearly wasn’t.
On the other hand, yes, she did say something. Which could conceivably have cost her politically (with China) in the future. But overall, it was a low-risk move, especially considering the comparatively small audience.

By: Horst

Horst — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:39:34 +0000

I think she deserves “credit” for “standing up.” The safer thing would have been to be quiet, and to avoid embarrassing the host country. Plus, her comments were hardly veiled or subtle. She basically blasted the government. Whether the government deserved such a blast is a matter for another debate. Bottom line: she did the hard thing, not the easy thing.