China is again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Highlighted by the detention of artist Ai Weiwei and Nobel-
laureate Liu Xiaobo, the past few months have seen what
Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner recently called a
"serious backsliding" of human rights. Even with China's growing
clout on the world stage, human rights abuses do have
consequences. Reports of secret detentions, censorship of the
Internet, and intimidation of foreign journalists continue to
harm the image of China's "peaceful rise," and stoke fears of
what a rising China means for the world. Nothing damages China's
image more than its suppression of religion. The Dalai Lama
wields greater international influence than any of China's
domestic critics, due in no small part to his image as a
spiritual figure. China's persecution of "house churches,"
underground communities of Christians that gather in small home
meetings, remains a significant irritant to relations with the
United States. Sometimes the policies themselves backfir