President Obama prodded China on Monday to improve its record on human rights, saying that doing so would make it a stronger and more prosperous country, but he maintained the administration’s silence on the fate of the blind dissident who fled house arrest last week and is now reported to be under American protection in Beijing.
Mr. Obama declined to discuss what he called “press reports” about the dissident, Chen Guangcheng, but responding to questions about the administration’s zeal for pressing China on these issues, he said that “every time we meet with China, the issue of human rights comes up.”. . .