Washington: Terming the sentencing of an activist by China as "deeply disturbing", the US today said it will take up the issue with Beijing.

"It is a decision that is deeply disturbing to the United States," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

"It is exactly the kind of decision that we have tried to convince the Chinese is not only not in the interests of human rights and in the interest of rule of law, but actually not in China's interest," she said in Bucharest.

However, Rice, according to a transcript released here, said the sentencing of Hu Jia on "inciting subversion of state power" will have no affect on American participation in the Olympics.

She said the US will "restart a human rights dialogue with China".

"One of the reasons to restart a human rights dialogue to which the Chinese agreed, after the suspension of that dialogue for some time, is to have a place where we can bring up not just individual cases, but also structural issues...," Rice said.

Asked whether this would affect American participation in the Olympics, she said: "The President has spoken to the fact that this is a sporting event ... We've also said that we take seriously our obligation to talk to the Chinese about human rights before, during and after."

"And I might just make one other point. This is also going to be a big event not just for the regime, this is going to be a big event for the Chinese people... The Chinese people need to know that the United States and the American people support their emergence on the world stage," she said.

Hu was found guilty at a Beijing court of "incitement to subvert state power" following a one-day trial last month.

Source : PTI