The American Spectator

At Large

China's Long March on Human Rights

By Doug Bandow on 3.26.08 @ 12:07AM

(Page 2 of 2)

Although the authorities claim to hold no political prisoners, the State Department finds that claim laughable. The Report explains, "Tens of thousands of political prisoners remained incarcerated, some in prisons and others in reeducation-through-labor camps or administrative detention."

Naturally, the government monitors all forms of communication and "generally did not respect" the free speech rights of citizens, academic freedom at universities, or right of association by most anyone -- and insists on strict controls on the Internet.

Political freedoms also are de minimis. Village elections are allowed, but do not undermine the iron grip of China's one-party state. "Corruption remained an endemic problem," notes the Department, which "plagued courts, law enforcement agencies, and other government agencies."

Moreover, "in practice workers were not free to organize or join unions of their own choosing." Collective bargaining exists in theory rather than in reality; there is no legally-guaranteed right to strike.

Chinese rule is particularly harsh in Tibet, which helps explain the recent unrest. In contrast, Beijing largely respected the rights of residents of Hong Kong and Macau, though neither territory has implemented robust democratic rule.

THIS IS A RECORD that has gone from worse to bad. That the PRC has escaped its former Maoist madness is laudable but the country's present condition is disappointing and tragic and doesn't have to remain that way.

The PRC's current repressive condition presents two challenges: one for China's elites and one for the rest of the world.

China's rulers have yet to learn that a government has no more fundamental duty than to respect the lives and liberties of its citizens. The issue goes beyond basic morality. If China aspires to global leadership -- and it does -- then it will have to demonstrate that it is worthy of the world's trust. That will occur only when the PRC acts in the interests of the Chinese people rather Communist Party apparatchiks.

Many people in the West look at the suffering of the Chinese people and advocate all kinds of actions by our governments: from a boycott of the Olympics to economic sanctions to treating China as an enemy. These "solutions" range from the merely bad to the truly awful, but they also miss the most important point.

The most effective thing Washington can do about China's human rights atrocities is to publicize them, as through the latest State Department report. Citizens of the West can act too. We can organizing letter-writing campaigns, protests, and boycotts; refuse to shut up about Chinese misbehavior; and counter brutal repression by denying it the shelter of euphemism.

The Olympic Games and assorted celebrations should be used as an opportunity to highlight human rights violations. And those going to the Olympics should look at their time there as an opportunity to meet Chinese citizens and tell them the truth about Western freedoms, in the great hope that these will one day be Chinese freedoms as well.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Abortion, Law, Communism, Unions