Not Such Good American Friends
Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2015
Not Such Good American Friends
China’s recent arrests of human-rights lawyers have drawn protests from around the world, but there’s a notable, mumbling exception: the American Bar Association. State security agents rounded up some 235 lawyers and other legal activists around the country last month, some of them grabbed, hooded and not heard from since. Beijing officials have railed against a “major criminal gang” of lawyers “plotting to stir up sensitive cases.” Some brave voices inside China have spoken up for these political prisoners, as have legal groups in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The New York City Bar Association expressed ‘grave concern’ and called on Beijing to “immediately release” those lawlessly detained, more than 20 of whom it cited by name.
