Chinese president's record criticized as he touts women's rights at U.N.
During a meeting on gender equality Sunday at the United Nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country would give $10 million to U.N. Women, but critics say it's a hollow message, considering several female activists have recently been arrested in his country.
Xi co-chaired segments of the meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and said China would build more schools, create 100 health-related projects over the next five years, and host 30,000 women from developing countries in training programs, USA Today reports. "We should foster a global environment favorable for women's development," he said.
On Twitter, Hillary Clinton said it was "shameless" for Xi to host a meeting on women's rights while "persecuting feminists." She referred to the FreeThe20 campaign, which is bringing attention to the arrests of 20 women in China, including lawyer Wang Yu, who is representing a group of five women jailed in March because of their plan to speak out against sexual harassment.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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