China invites UN in human rights gesture

China’s communist government has agreed to invite United Nations investigators to study issues of torture, religious freedom and arbitrary detention, an American envoy said.

Officials also promised to invite leaders of a US government-financed commission on religious freedom, assistant secretary of state Lorne Craner said after two days of human rights talks.

No dates were set, but Craner said officials told him invitations to the UN investigators would be issued immediately and with no conditions attached.