Obama aide mum on whether US protecting activist

WASHINGTON — A top White House aide on Sun­day said Pres­i­dent Barack Obama wants to strike an “appro­pri­ate bal­ance” between advanc­ing human rights and main­tain­ing U.S. rela­tions with China, the first pub­lic com­ments by the admin­is­tra­tion on its poten­tial involve­ment in har­bor­ing a Chi­nese activist on the eve of diplo­matic talks between the two world powers.