The future of human rights in China
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| China Great Wall. Image: destination360.com |
You may also have heard and read about the greatness of China's economic, political and human rights violations in the country; even Japan was concerned with the spread of air pollution in China to Japan. Is air pollution would damage the health of the Japanese people is considered a human rights violation? Which obviously every human being has the right to clean air and blue skies.
Since
the Communist Party gained power in China and established the People’s Republic
of China in 1949, authoritarian rule has been the norm. Around the late 1970s,
as the first generation of Communist Party leaders were replaced by a second,
some reforms provided a foundation of rapid economic development. The political
reform away from authoritarian rule has remained elusive. China continues
to be an authoritarian one-party state that imposes sharp curbs on freedom of
expression, association, and religion; openly rejects judicial independence and
press freedom; and arbitrarily restricts and suppresses human rights defenders
and organizations, often through extra-judicial measures.
These times, it’s hard to imagine of China without
thinking of the endless reports of human rights
violations that has plagued the country. From censorship to torture, there’s hardly
a human right they haven’t spit on, with no indication that change is imminent.
Being a Communist country, China has basically done what they pleased,
trampling the human rights of its own citizens along with others. The Chinese
government squeezes the country tight in its grip, using ultimate control and
shameless propaganda to rule over its citizens. Many nations, the U.S. being
the guiltiest of all, have turned a blind eye on such violations in the name of
keeping business relationships intact.
The government of China also censors the internet; maintains extremely
repressive policies in ethnic minority areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner
Mongolia; systematically condones—with rare exceptions—abuses of power in the
name of “social stability” ; and rejects domestic and international scrutiny of
its human rights record as attempts to destabilize and impose “Western values”
on the country. The security apparatus—hostile to liberalization and legal
reform—seems to have steadily increased its power since the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. China’s “social stability maintenance” expenses are now larger than
its defence budget.
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| The Tank Man in Tiananmen Square. Image: desura.com |
Official and scholarly statistics estimate that 250-500 protests occur per day; participants number from ten to tens of thousands. Internet users and reform-oriented media are aggressively pushing the boundaries of censorship, despite the risks of doing so, by advocating for the rule of law and transparency, exposing official wrong-doing, and calling for reforms.
Every four years, presidential campaigns in USA
thrust China into the political limelight. The candidates seem to relish any
opportunity to accuse their opponents of being "soft" on China and its human rights abuses.
President Jimmy Carter is recognized for injecting human rights issues more significantly
into U.S. foreign policy, but when he normalized relations with Beijing in
1979, it was Republican candidate Ronald Reagan who seized the moral high
ground, saying he "would not abandon friends and allies." (Ironically, Reagan
went on to authorize the sale of sophisticated military hardware, including Blackhawk
helicopters, to China's People's Liberation Army.) In the wake of the 1989
Tiananmen Square massacre, candidate Bill Clinton accused then President George
H.W. Bush of coddling the "butchers of Beijing," and then promptly abandoned attempts to
link trade and human rights after taking office.
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| Presiden Obama and Xi Jinping. Image: telegraph.co.uk |
President
Barack Obama told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Beijing must play by the same
trade rules as other major world powers and vowed to keep pressing China to
clean up its human rights record. "With expanding power
and prosperity also come increased responsibilities," Obama said as he sat
side by side with Xi in the Oval Office. The situation has tested the Obama administration's approach
to relations with China, straining its commitment to uphold human rights even
as it strives to maintain steady ties with Beijing.
Since
more than ten years of China's economic growth is very high and make the United
States, the European Economic Community, and various countries in the world
facing a loss and dizziness export Chinese products are cheaper, so that other
countries is difficult to compete. China is also the largest foreign reserves
in the world. China has a very large military force. China has not fully give
freedom to its people. With wealth and economic power are very large, making
China extremely confident that the loud criticism of violations of human rights
from the United States, European Union, United Nations and other human rights
organizations.
Is
it so difficult to change China? It may take a very long time that China appreciates
the freedom of expression, democracy, art and culture. Who is the president of
the United States or Prime Minister of Europe that will be able to turn China
into a democratic country, such as the success of Ronald Regan with the Pope
when it was successful to tear down the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union? It
may take a period of one or two decades to realize China as democratic country
and humanist.
Indonesia has been proven since the 1998 reform, democracy and freedom of speech, elections to elect the president, governors and regents have implemented, although not perfect, but much better than the practice of statehood and democracy in Iran, Malaysia, and even Singapore. If Indonesia can change, then China can. Don't stop believing.
This
article is enriched with articles from: hrw.org, global issues.org, chinasucks.net,
foreignpolicy.com, and other sources.
