US Senate votes to rename street outside Chinese Embassy 'Liu Xiaobo Plaza'
The move would honour a jailed Chinese dissident and embarrass Beijing
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/12155985/US-Senate-votes-to-rename-street-outside-Chinese-Embassy-Liu-Xiaobo-Plaza.html
The US Senate has voted in favour of giving Chinese diplomats in Washington a daily reminder of the fate of Liu Xiaobo, a jailed pro-democracy activist.
The Senate has unanimously approved a bill to rename a the stretch of road in front of the Chinese embassy after Mr Liu, who was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for subversion.
This would change the address of China’s embassy in Washington from 3505 International Place to 1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza.
If so, every letter arriving at the beige-stoned compound would bear the name of the Chinese dissident.
"It's provocative and counterproductive. We strongly urge the US side to stop such actions," said Zhu Haiquan, a Chinese embassy spokesman, in a statement to Reuters news agency.
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, pictured in China in 2005 Photo: Kyodo/AP
The bill has been put forward by Senator Ted Cruz, a leading contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
“I am grateful to my colleagues for passing this legislation today, for standing with Dr and Mrs Liu and for standing and speaking for truth and for freedom,” said Mr Cruz after the Senate vote.
Whether this symbolic move will have any impact on the human rights situation in China is doubtful. Chinese officials have previously ridiculed any moves to help Mr Liu, who they consider a criminal.
Mr Liu’s call for political reform is largely unknown among the general Chinese population. A search for his name yields limited results on the heavily censored Internet.
Chinese comments that managed to bypass censors online have ranged from support, anger to amusement since the Senate bill was first introduced in 2014.
Some have proposed that China should also shame the Americans by renaming the street in front of the US embassy in Beijing to “Snowden Street,” “Long Live Black Slavery,” or even “Lewinsky.”
The bill could still be vetoed by President Barack Obama to avoid embarrassing China.
"While we continue to impress upon China the imperative of respecting human rights and releasing Liu Xiaobo, as well as other political prisoners, we do not believe Senator Cruz's ploy to rename a street in Washington DC is an effective way to achieve either goal," a White House spokesman has told Reuters.
The measure is reminiscent of America's decision in 1984 to rename the street in front of the Soviet Embassy in honour of Andrei Sakharov, the leading dissident.
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