They called it a big deal. A U.S. delegation went to Beijing over the weekend to discuss letting Chinese listeners hear Voice of America programs now drowned out by China's own broadcasting on the same frequencies. But Beijing had pledged months ago to negotiate; welcoming the delegation was hardly a new or a large concession.
But a senior State Department official chose to pretend that it was, hoping to endow this minor action with some real, if dubious, importance in helping satisfy U.S. demands for "significant progress" in China's human-rights record. His reaction was one of a number of clues that...
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