The departing U.S. ambassador, Jon Huntsman, criticized China's human rights record on Wednesday with some of the sharpest public comments by a U.S. official since the Chinese government began a harsh crackdown on dissent this year.
Using a high-profile annual lecture on Chinese-U.S. relations to make his final public address as ambassador, Huntsman said bluntly that prominent Chinese activists had been unfairly detained or jailed, naming Ai Weiwei, the Beijing artist who was taken into custody Sunday.
"The United States will never stop supporting human rights because we believe in the fundamental struggle for human dignity," said Huntsman, who leaves his post amid speculation he may seek the GOP nomination for president. NEW YORK TIMES
