U.S. China resolution shelved by U.N.

Beijing's crackdown on the Falun Gong has turned the world's eyes on China

In this story: Not beyond review Bad publicity Games bid an issue RELATED STORIES, SITES

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has shelved a U.S. resolution on China, agreeing to Beijing's motion to take "no action" on the text.

Chairman Leandro Despouy announced the result of voting on China's motion -- 23 votes in favour, 17 against, 12 abstentions with one delegation absent.

The U.S. and Belgium, speaking on behalf of the European Union, called for the rejection of China's initiative to quash the debate, arguing that no country was exempt from scrutiny. But Asian countries including Pakistan rallied to China's side, accusing America of selectivity.

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Chinese dissidents including Wei Jingsheng, head of the exile Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition, and Tibetan exiles were in the room for the debate.

Outside, hundreds of followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement held silent protests around the U.N. building in Geneva.

Not beyond review

U.S. ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli introduced her country's resolution saying it was "fair and balanced" and recognised China's rapid strides in recent years.

"No country should consider itself beyond review," she told the 53-member forum.

"China should follow the same international standards that every other country does."

The U.S. text denounced "severe restrictions on the rights of citizens to the freedoms of assembly, association, expression, conscience and religion, and to due legal process and a fair trial as well as at reports of harsh sentences for some seeking to exercise their rights."

Using this controversial procedural manoeuvre, China has avoided examination of its record every year since its troops killings of hundreds of protesters in Beijing in June 1989.

The move by the U.S. came during a period of high tension between the two countries.

Images of Beijing's hardening crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners have added impact to what critics say is already a long list of abuses.

Bad publicity

And the U.N. resolution coincided with a spate of bad publicity for China.

In the past few weeks news has emerged that China's government detained four scholars with connections to the West.

Gao is one of the four scholars with western connections detained in China

Gao Zhan, a US permanent resident, has been formally arrested on spying charges, with the probability of a long sentence ahead. Meanwhile, images of her five-year old son adapting to life back in the States without his mother haunts U.S.-Chinese relations.

After an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided, US-Chinese relations reached the edge of crisis.

But Chinese President Jiang Zemin, trying to look ahead, was outspoken about the human rights resolution.

During his six-nation Latin American tour, Jiang criticized the U.S. plans to denounce China's record.

Games bid an issue

Amidst all this, Beijing issued an annual report which listed achievements in its human rights record.

But now, a new goal is creating pressure on China's leadership to improve the country's image. Beijing hopes to host the Olympic Games in 2008. The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to announce the winning city in July.

Beijing has been at pains to separate the recent detention of the U.S. spy plane crew from its campaign to host the Games, but if recent events blend together in the international perception of China, Beijing may still find that the battle to defend its image has to be fought on many fronts.

CNN correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver contributed to this report.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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