Human Rights in China - Essay Example

Memorandum Should the United s support a United Nations resolution condemning the People's Republic of China as a violator of Human Rights This requires a study of the history of China and its rise onto the world stage. The twentieth century saw the changing of the world order as two world wars altered the world from its colonial order to nation states. In the latter half of the century, the rapid rise of the People's Republic of China was witnessed. Already the world's most populous country, it adopted a blend of capitalism that soon catapulted it to economic boom and China became the fastest growing economy in the world along with a major player at the international stage. As such, the People's Republic of China enjoys a status of considerable economic power and political clout among the nations of the world and holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The human rights record of the People's Republic of China has frequently been brought into question at the international stage. Being one of the world's few communist countries at the dawn of the twenty first century; this has been taken with a mixture of feelings. Some allege that the rapid rise of China as an economic power has come at the cost of human rights towards some of its citizens while another contested point is that the pressure on China comes merely from its continued use of a hybrid system that was supposed to have died down after the fall of the Soviet Union. The allegations against China are many and steadily rising in number. One of the most contentious issues is the lack of freedom of speech for Chinese citizens. It is argued that the Chinese government frequently makes use of state power to imprison those within the country who are critical of the state or its policies. The role of media is moderated by the government to a great extent with several Chinese news channels being run directly by the state. Such control of the media, it is said, will never allow independent views to be aired to the public (Zhongguo 153). The government also is said to go to special lengths to quell any mention of democracy within China and any sort of expression of support or solidarity for the self determination of contentious colonies under the control of the People's Republic of China. This includes the region of Tibet bordering India which is linked with an independence movement from the mainland. Any reference to the breakaway island of Taiwan as being an independent entity, not under the jurisdiction of the Chinese mainland is further frowned upon and punished by the state (Zhongguo 193). Even the internet is said to be heavily moderated with content that supports Taiwan or the Free Tibet Movement being censored and violations of viewer ship being brutally punished with torture and other means so as to deter the population. It is public knowledge that the Chinese authorities use Microsoft, Yahoo and other companies to filter the use of certain words such as "Democracy" and other words deemed offensive by the authorities from Chinese chat rooms and instant messaging software (Gunther). Thus it is contended that the government interferes with the basic human right of freedom of speech and expression for its citizens and does not allow free ideas to float. The second major category of allegations against China regarding human rights violations relates to freedom of movement for its citizens. Since the formation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Ze Dong, the state has initiated a program of restricting where its citizens could stay and work. This was regulated utilizing a residency permit system whereby citizens were defined according to their geographical area and encouraged to stay in particular places (MacLeod). It further kept population divided between the urban and rural areas such that the problems accompanying rapid urbanization do not plague China. The allegations put against China are that it deliberately tries to stop the free movement of its citizens, with those wanting to move to urban areas or different provinces being punished in terms of less grain rations etc. This leads to the creation of a society where the rural workers are treated as second class citizens and a system akin to the South African apartheid (MacLeod). It undoubtedly helps the People's Republic of China in controlling the problem of rapid urbanization and also helps regulate wage rates to some extent but it denies Chinese citizens the choice to move as they please and hence this restrictive system is a violation of fundamental human rights. Another chief point raised against China is that of marginalization of its rural population. This particularly applies to the migrant labor in China which chooses to move from one province to another. Such mobility is not allowed to Chinese citizens without the presence of passes that are obtained through tough bureaucratic procedures and thus stop the flow of Chinese labor to cities (MacLeod). The allegations content that this is not dissimilar to the apartheid system in South Africa where migrant labor was treated with abuse and kept in horrid conditions during the transitory phase of being deported to their respective provinces. Religious freedom has been another bone in the side of Chinese authorities. The members of the Communist Party of China, which is the sole operating political unit within the country, are officially required to be atheists. This discriminates against people of various religions who because of their beliefs can not take part in political affairs and it closes an important avenue for them. There is tight control over Christianity and the Catholic Church among others is not allowed to operate freely. Only Christian churches identified as "legal" are allowed to operate easily and their preaching and sermons are moderated and even alleged to be modified now and then (The New Bishop of Beijing is Elected). This clampdown on Christianity is compounded by the existence of a community characterized as "real-Catholic" which claims to be loyal to the pope and not to the state run churches that the pope does not approve of. It is alleged that not only does this help the ideological stance of atheism that is fostered by the communist part of China; it further helps to curtail any other means of mobilization for the people apart from the communist party, that could be used to harness rebellion against the authorities. Tibetan Buddhism is said to have suffered massively at Chinese hands as well. The government brings into effect quotas on the number of monks that may operate within certain regions so as to control the spread of spiritual teachings and monks whose teachings are not approved by the state are promptly removed. The government has even claimed the power to curtail the announcement of any new incarnation of a living Buddha, which is an important element of Tibetan Buddhism (MacCartney). Political freedom is another area of controversy. Opposition of the government and its policies under the communist part of China are shunned in the country. This was evident in the incident surrounding the Tiananmen Square massacre where a number of people died. This talk of politics always goes hand in hand with talk of the status of Tibet. After the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1951, the Dalai Lama who is the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism fled to China and from there has been continuously voicing opinions against the actions of the Chinese government in Tibet. As the Dalai Lama speaks, "the new Chinese settlers have created an alternate society: a Chinese apartheid which, denying Tibetans equal social and economic status in our own land, threatens to finally overwhelm and absorb us." (Profile: The Dalai Lama) Along with the Tibetans, another ethnic minority that is alleged to be subject to adverse policies of marginalization by the Chinese government are the Uighers (Christoffersen). They have been linked frequently with an independence movement which has led to alleged crackdowns against then and Chinese encouragement of the majority Han ethnic group to migrate to those areas to make the region more loyal, thereby taking away jobs from the local ethnic groups. This has been supplemented by the use of capital punishment by the authorities to a great extent. It has been reported that China has one of the highest number of executions per capita in the world and executions range from minor crimes such as tax fraud to embezzlement of funds. There is also the case of elimination of opponents to the government policies though the use of capital punishment (Christoffersen). These various allegations of human rights violations have been voiced by a number of international organizations and countries such as the United States which publishes country reports monitoring human rights progress in various regions. The latest of these was made recently by the United States State Department which put numerous accusations of human rights violations on China. It reported abuses against Chinese citizens and the minority elements within China and highlighted the Beijing Olympic Games as one of the events when such incidents peaked in the country. China however has not been short of replies to these numerous allegations by the US and Amnesty International. First off, China claims that the indicators of human rights used by these groups are biased and incomplete. Human rights measurement includes other indicators such as rise in economic standards of a population, the better provision of health care facilities and economic prosperity (Newman). All of these are areas China has been faring extremely well in. Its rapid economic progress has transformed the standard of living of a great number of Chinese citizens over the years who now find more money to spend and additional luxuries in their life. Health care provision in China has become significantly better with educated doctors and facilities to cater to the population. Furthermore, some of the allegations against the People's Republic of China have been dealt with well with discriminatory laws being withdrawn. For example, the hukou system has been altered to a great extent which made conditions horrid for migrant workers in mainland China. The workers characterized under the "rural" category can now go through relatively simple bureaucratic procedures to acquire temporary passes for work in cities (Newman). Secondly, China is opposed to its policy towards migrant labor being termed as "apartheid".partheid"ng termed as "to the tology being applied for its policies towards ,igrantlabor. This is inaccurate considering that the migrant workers are Chinese themselves and these policies are not racially motivated as they tended to be under the South African system. Labeling it as so sends the wrong signals against the Chinese authorities and can be considered unfair. The Chinese embassy even reported in 2007 that "It's pure incitement to proclaim 'Chinese apartheid' in reference to migrant labor being kept out of the cities." These individual cases aside, the bulk of Chinese response towards its strict policies is based on what are described as "Asian values". The logic here is that to create a society that is prosperous and can live in harmony, the greater good needs to be considered over the good of the few. If the whole nation can benefit because of sustained growth, it is good for all and to enforce such harmony and peace and stability, the Government must play an active role in terms of enforcing laws and curbing the steps of the few to benefit the whole. It further points to the situation in many Western countries which is described as incorporating increasing crime rates, family breakdown, industrial action and deterioration of society which are also indicators of human rights. As such, without government control and enforcement, such deterioration is inevitable and hence China is only doing the best for itself by maintaining its own policies which benefit the whole. Thus the Chinese authorities believe the stern steps they take as a paternalistic figure benefit the nation as a whole. In dealing with the alleged problem of human rights violations within China, the United States could consider a number of policy options. To begin with, it could take an openly hostile position against the violations in China and take direct action against China to force it to change its policies. This could be in the form of economic sanctions against China as were once threatened to be orchestrated with regards to breakage of intellectual property rights. This would further be supplemented by open and vocal opposition of Chinese policies with regards to its citizens. This will have certain benefits. First off, the Chinese authorities will get the strongest message to act through this measure and when faced with such economic and international pressure, there is a great probability it could capitulate to the demands and amend its internal policies. This would further lead to the US policy with regards to human rights violations being spelled out clearly so that any subsequent transgressions will be deterred by this threat of break off by the world's super power (Huang). However, this measure carries with it significant adverse effects as well. China is the world's fastest growing economy and a major political and economic player on the world stage. It is also one of the United States' biggest trading partners with the US relying a lot on cheap Chinese consumer products in its domestic market. Furthermore, a lot of US companies have investments in China. If the US seeks to impose economic sanctions against the People's Republic of China and it does not capitulate to its demands, it would have an extreme adverse effect on the US and Chinese economies both of which are interdependent in this global economy. This would further be compounded considering that China holds a huge amount of US treasury bonds and debt and other investments in the US which puts actions against the Chinese government as a secondary option. On the reverse side, this would be applying double standards from the part of the United States. There are many other allies of the US who are gross violators of universal human rights and against whom no significant action has been taken. This questions the motives of the US. Furthermore, there have been allegations of human rights violations against it as well in the case of Guantanamo bay in Cuba, the Abu Gharib prison and the invasion of Iraq. This leads to further questions regarding the appropriateness of such action by the US considering its own record in the twenty first century (Newey). A second possible policy option could be to use the international organizations and treaties to maneuver China into changing its policies which may be leading to human rights abuses. China has ratified the definition of Universal human rights. The US could engage China in trade talks and other economic matters and through such meetings, it could force China to ratify the treaties it has signed which could then be used to monitor the happenings inside China and hence be used as a meter to judge the growth in China's human rights record. This would have the benefit of applying pressure on China without the US being the main party in it. This would help divert the Chinese rhetoric regarding the United States interfering in Chinese matters and leave the authorities to face international group s and treaties. Violations will also be easier to judge considering China will have ratified treaties and hence accepted a set standard to apply which if not maintained, can be used to pressure the People's Republic. It would further shield the US from any adverse economic effects, allowing it to continue its cooperation with the country in economic and other areas of mutual interest and avoid confrontation with the world's fastest growing economy (Huang). This too however carries with it many challenges. The US will have to maintain solid credibility for this policy option to work. This would require toning down on the rhetoric that human rights violations may be stemming from the communist part of China. A more pressing issue is that the US itself has failed to ratify some international treaties that it may want to pressure China into and this can be used as a counter by the Chinese authorities in engagements between them. Furthermore, China has ratified the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), neither of which has been ratified by the United States. Washington could be open to accusations of hypocrisy if it pushes China in this regard and may need to change its own policies a bit to have some effect. Furthermore, given that China is a signatory to many treaties as well and these are in somewhat of a balanced ration in relation to the Treaties ratified by the US, it questions the nature of allegations against the China and the extent to which it can be pressured by other countries. Given the US opposition to the Communist Party of China, there is also the burning question of whether these qualifications against China are about human rights or regarding the system it operates under (Huang). A third option is the use of multilateral approaches against China. This could be in the form of support for a United Nations resolution against China in relation to its human rights violations. Such a step could be taken through the UNCHR. This step has some potential benefits. It allows the whole world to step in to condemn potential acts of denying fundamental human rights to Chinese citizens by the authorities. A combined multilateral effort would put greater pressure on China than the work of any one country. This would take away China's defensive shield in terms of engaging in a war of words with the US, criticizing it on its own human rights record and advising it not to meddle in China's internal affairs (Huang). It would also take away Chinese allegations that the US wants to undermine the Communist Party of China and that it applies double standards when dealing with the country. Furthermore, economic relations between the two countries will not be jeopardized and they can continue to grow economically and discuss issues of mutual interest on international platforms. There are drawbacks here too however. China holds considerable political and economic clout on the world stage. It supports a lot of countries through loans and grants and is sure to get their support on any vote in the UN. For this policy option to work, the US will have to engage the support of numerous countries that are a part of the United Nations and muster enough votes so that the resolution could be passed. Such a move would result in temporary strain on the relations between the two countries as China may view such rabid efforts as open hostility against itself. Considering the policy options available, the best route to get results from China without jeopardizing relations between the two countries would be to pursue multilateral efforts. Evidence from the past suggests that China is quick to string up opposition to possible resolutions against its human rights record in the UNCHR. The People's Republic further supplements this with fervent campaigns to avoid a UN censure, asking countries to engage in bilateral dialogues about human rights concerns instead of supporting a UN resolution. These efforts illustrate the Chinese government's vigilance in avoiding international criticism against itself. Hence this is one avenue which if pushed significantly, could lead to China taking tangible action (Huang). However, the crucial question is whether the US can hope to support such a resolution, condemning China as a human rights violator Some of the responses that China gives are rational. It isn't the only country in the world with a record suggesting violation of fundamental human rights. Many other countries, allies of the US, have similar records which are not being clamped down upon similarly by the US. This suggests that the possible reason for this preferential treatment is China's rapidly growing economy which is being viewed as a threat. Furthermore, there are allegations against the United States itself and if it hopes to label China as a human rights violator, it will have to wait a few years before it gets out of Iraq and Afghanistan and the Guantanamo bay prison closes down. In addition, as the current financial crisis shows, the Chinese system is sustaining growth through global recession and the country remains the fastest growing economy in the world. This points to the suggestion that perhaps the system works. It is leading to economic prosperity for the people and a fall in crime rate and the family values espoused in China remain some of the better ones in the world. Thus it can be argued that all is not bad in China. Its citizens may be suffering gross injustices in many departments, but at least it is maintaining development. Steps could be taken against China to continue forcing it to change its policies such as making IMF loans contingent on human rights record getting better and other such multi lateral measures, but labeling China alone as a human rights violator where others exists too is too radical a measure and could be said to be espousing double standards against the country. Works Cited Christoffersen, G. (2002). "Constituting the Uyghur in US--China Relations: The Geopolitics of Identity Formation in the War on Terrorism". Strategic Insight . Gunther, Marc. "Tech execs get grilled over China business." Fortune 16 Feb 2006 12 Mar 2009 . Huang, Robert. 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