At a congressional hearing, groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders said the climate was once again icy for Chinese rights activists after last year's Beijing Olympics sparked hopes for a thaw.

The new administration under Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "have a particular interest in the human rights situation in China," said James McGovern, co-chair of a House of Representatives commission on human rights.

"This situation is not going away," the Democrat told the hearing, vowing: "We are going to raise this issue time and time and time again."

The new commission's Republican co-chair, Frank Wolf, castigated US diplomats in Beijing who he accused of putting commercial interests ahead of human rights, and echoed McGovern in urging a new focus from Obama.

Without singling out human rights, Clinton called Tuesday for a "comprehensive dialogue" with China, saying president George W. Bush's administration focused too much on economic issues.

"That is a very important aspect of our relationship but it is not the only aspect," said the former first lady, who in 1995 gave a landmark speech in Beijing arguing that women's rights were human rights.

Recapping that Clinton speech, veteran dissident Harry Wu told the hearing: "I really hope Obama has a new position, and puts human rights in the right position."

Amnesty's Asia-Pacific advocacy director, T. Kumar, said China had reminded the new US administration of its "intransigence" by censoring parts of Obama's inauguration speech a week ago.

"We urge President Obama to immediately condemn this action and send a strong message to the Chinese authorities that human rights is a priority for this administration," he said.

In portions of his speech edited out by Chinese broadcasters, Obama recalled that "earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions."

He also referred to regimes that cling to power through corruption, deceit and the silencing of dissent -- a sensitive issue for China, where many dissidents languish in prison or are under police surveillance.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday that state-run media had "their own editing rights," and launched a staunch defense of China's rights record.

"China respects and protects human rights, this is enshrined in China's constitution," she said. "China has made a lot of progress that has been noticed by the entire world."

But at the hearing in Congress, called ahead of the first of new four-yearly reviews of human rights by the United Nations next month, the pressure groups said Chinese democracy campaigners, minority groups and ordinary citizens presenting grievances to officials were at great risk of persecution.

Representatives of Tibetans and Uighur Muslims said crackdowns on their peoples had only intensified after the Olympics.

Kumar, detailing the plight of several "prisoners of conscience," said China had left a trail of "broken promises" made when it won the right to host the Olympics.

Lucie Morillon, Washington director of Reporters Without Borders, said more than 100 journalists, bloggers and dissidents had been rounded up ahead of the Olympics.

"And since the end of the Games, the repression has not let up," she said, calling on Obama's administration to "make human rights a priority, not a second thought, in its relations with China."

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