WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- Complaints about China harassing human rights groups ahead of a U.S.-China human rights dialogue are taken seriously, a U.S. State Department spokesman said.
"We take these reports seriously, and we're going to look into them," spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday. "And based on the facts, as we are able to collect them, I'm sure that they will be part of the human rights dialogue that we have coming up."
The dialogue is scheduled to take place in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
"(Our) concern about the state of human rights in China has been longstanding," McCormack said. "It's the very reason why we have ... human rights dialogues that the secretary was able to work with the Chinese to restart after a hiatus of several years."
McCormack noted the Chinese government also committed to restarting a dialogue with envoys of the Dalai Lama "that is quite promising."
"We urge the Chinese government to follow through on their commitment and add energy and dedication to that dialogue to try to find a resolution," he said. "We believe ... that the Dalai Lama is part the solution, and we would encourage a serious, substantive, results-oriented dialogue."
