Who Distracts Who

Passing almost completely under the radar this week was Hillary Clinton’s surprisingly strong statement issued on the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square. The Obama administration was severely criticized around the world for neglecting to make much of it (and, of course, the issue of Tibet) when the Secretary of State visited China on her begging tour in February.

In a statement issued by the State Department on June 3rd, Hillary said in part, that “China should publicly account for those killed in the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests 20 years ago. China should release those still held over the protests and stop harassing those who took part.” The anniversary was a chance for China to "reflect upon the meaning of the events that preceded that day". China "should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal. …China can honor the memory of that day by moving to give the rule of law, protection of internationally-recognized human rights, and democratic development the same priority as it has given to economic reform."

What was it that made Hillary Clinton come out with this statement, which is unusually strong for the Obama Administration? According to B. Raman of the Institute of Topical Studies, Chennai, “two interpretations are possible. The first is that, stung by criticism of what was seen by many as its soft line towards China, the Administration felt it necessary to correct this impression by articulating its position on the Tienanmen Square massacre in strong language. The second interpretation is that the strong line reflects a certain annoyance of the Obama Administration over China's reluctance or failure or both to exercise sufficient pressure on North Korea not to carry out its nuclear test of last month and its repeated firings of missiles.”

I would add my own two cents by speculating that there might also be a third possibility: That this was a rogue operation by the Department of State. It is no secret that both Clintons have felt marginalized and hamstrung by the Obama administration. We have seen rogue behavior by the State Department before (when Bush was President).

It might also be significant that this thing was timed to coincide with Obama's long-awaited outreach to Muslims and would therefore not get much play in the press. Nevertheless, human rights groups will have been appeased and everyone can go to bed reasonably happy.