Until recently, discussions on the human rights policies of the Chinese government focused solely on how domestic policies affected the country’s own citizens. But as China’s world influence grows, such discussions are no longer so simple. Today, there is much more focus on China as a global force, from its relations with regimes that perpetuate human rights abuses to Beijing’s highly anticipated hosting of the 2008 Olympics, the most international of events. Indeed, the activities and image of China beyond its borders are shifting conversations of “human rights in China”—concentrated on its internal situation—to “human rights and China,” with greater emphasis than ever before placed on the country’s influence around the world.

     One major effect of fixating on the “global China” is that attention to China’s human rights situation at home diminishes. This may be contributing to the stagnation of some bilateral human rights dialogues with Beijing and, in several cases, rejection of the dialogues altogether. In October, citing anger over a visit by the Dalai Lama to Berlin, Beijing cancelled its human rights dialogue with Germany that was scheduled for December. At present, only four bilateral dialogues are functioning—those with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia. A potential result of a breakdown in the dialogues is that China can go unaccountable for some of its human rights problems that have regularly come up in bilateral talks.

Foreign diversions from the dialogue

     Increasingly, attention on China’s own human rights issues is being diverted abroad to places where China’s impact is being felt the most, particularly in countries where it does business. China is now involved in overseas activities that bear profound human rights implications, and a sampling of China’s dealings with some of its allies suggests that its “international” human rights profile is bleak.

     China’s aggressive strategy to acquire oil and gas resources, for instance, has entailed supporting regimes infamous for human rights abuses. Chinese interests—both government and private—invested billions of dollars in oil and gas in Sudan even as the genocide in Darfur raged on. Iran and Burma, no strangers to criticism for human rights violations in their countries, also have signed huge contracts to sell natural gas to China.

     China spoke alone among world powers when it endorsed the tainted 2005 re-election of its friend Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has long been reliant on Chinese aid, including provisions of military equipment, vast infrastructure, and consumer goods, while citizens of his country face political and media repression and food shortages. It is not a coincidence that many recipients of Chinese investment and other assistance have stood with Beijing when it has confronted UN resolutions on its human rights record: Such stances promote the idea of “non-interference in internal affairs” that can protect human rights abusers, including China, from international scrutiny and potential repercussions for their domestic rights problems.

1 | 2 | 3 >>

DIALOGUE.online     |     DUI HUA HOME     |     SUPPORT DUI HUA     |     SEARCH     |     ARCHIVES