But Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tang Guoqiang hinted that the decision to sign the documents - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and a convention on economic, social and cultural rights - was unlikely to occur before the annual showdown between a U.S.-led bloc of Western countries and China before the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva in March and April.
"We are actively considering these two covenants. We are actively studying and considering the question of joining," Tang said yesterday at a weekly news briefing here. "As to when we would join, that is entirely our own affair."
Western diplomats in Beijing were skeptical of the Chinese offer, suggesting it was part of an international lobbying effort by the Beijing regime leading up to the Geneva meeting.
Like the mythic cowboys of the old American West, two violence-prone Nordic motorcycle clubs have taken to saying, "This town ain't big enough for the both of us." They settle their scores in blood, and leave the rest of the townsfolk terrorized and angry.
No wonder. The bikers' weapons of choice are not six-shooters. They are automatic weapons and rocket-propelled antitank grenades.