World IN BRIEF : HONG KONG : Foundation Defends Chinese Orphanages

A Hong Kong-based church foundation criticized a human rights report that accused many Chinese orphanages of deliberately letting children die. “This report makes sweeping judgments about the general situation in China, employing highly charged rhetoric but failing to substantiate many claims,” the nongovernmental Amity Foundation said. In a report this month, Human Rights Watch/Asia said state-run orphanages had allowed thousands of babies, many of them unwanted girls, to die from medical neglect and starvation. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said Shanghai authorities have released the brother of the doctor who provided much of the evidence about the orphanages. He was arrested earlier this week on charges of subversion.