Monday December 16, 2:29 PM

By Tamora Vidaillet

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. rights envoy Lorne Craner began two days of high-level talks with Chinese officials on Monday in which he was expected to press Beijing to free political prisoners and increase religious freedoms.

In the first bilateral talks of their kind since October 2001, Craner said he would discuss human rights and democracy issues, but did not elaborate on specific cases he would raise.

"We're hoping for a very productive session today and results in the coming weeks and new year," Craner, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour affairs, told reporters.

[...]

SLEW OF CASES

The U.S. embassy declined to comment on specific cases Craner was likely to bring up during the talks.

But U.S. Ambassador to Beijing Clark Randt told businessmen last month he had consistently raised a series of unresolved rights cases involving prisoners of conscience and people held in defiance of China's own laws.

[...]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-137754.html