China and Human Rights

By this day and age it has been made a simple concept that there are certain basic rights and freedoms to which all people should be entitled. The United Nations even made the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 saying that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” These basic rights and freedoms include the right to life, liberty, and equality in a court of law as well as the right to self expression, the right to work and the right to receive some kind of proper education. However it is up to each individual nation to see these rights and freedoms through. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to take that responsibility. There have always been people willing to let others live without rights so that they can retain power and/or influence. This can be done through fear and propaganda. Make a scapegoat enemy to unite the nation in support. Bring down others to advance yourselves. There are many examples of this in today’s world where anyone seen as a threat or inconvenience to those holding power are stripped of their human rights and left without even the freedom to be themselves. Of all the examples of this in today’s world, none is larger and more influential than the Chinese Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China. Obviously on a large scale international social and economic level, China is doing very well. It has an increasingly strong economy and represents about one fifth of the population of the world. They have made great strides recently in the fields of science, technology, and agriculture and very recently put on what was probably the most impressive Olympics in history and they are rightfully to be admired for that. But one must look at the cost of all these things.

The Chinese Communist Party took power in China in 1949 under Chairman Mao Zedong who embraced the beliefs and teachings of Karl Marx. Communism was seen as a solution to problems the Chinese were facing after a long period of oppression from foreigners and believed that the CCP would unite the country and make it strong again. Under the ideals of Karl Marx, a nation would have a classless society free of different social standings and beliefs that would cause internal separation. It is an idea that would have everybody working equally for the good of the country. Sounds great as a theory. However this goal of society requires complete and total cooperation with the controlling party. All totalitarian regimes of any kind require this and it always becomes a problem for the party. Things such as religion, the nobility, different cultures and anyone else that might have any opposing views could become a possible threat. So far on a large scale level, The People’s Republic of China has seen great economic and foreign policy success. Their production rates are the largest in the world and they are on fairly cooperative terms with most of the rest of the world. But there is a heavy price to be paid.

The "threats" from outside the party create paranoia and a feeling of instability within the party. Anything with influence outside of the party is a potential threat to the security of the party. This led to the CCP trying to stop anything like this from posing a threat. The two main so-called “threats” to the CCP are religious minorities and people practicing their own cultures (particularly people in Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan.) Religious minorities which are persecuted include Christians, Muslim, Jews and Falun Gong practitioners. People who practice these religions are not allowed to do it publicly. In Falun Gong’s case… not at all. This is because these faiths have their own teachings other than those of the CCP and their numbers are still fairly small. These people are stripped of many of their basic rights such as where they can live, education, and habeas corpus. For example, if you visit the Chinese city of Xi’an, you will notice a place called the “Muslim corner.” All of the Muslims in Xi’an live in this one small corner of the city where they have to make their living and practice their faith. Muslims are seen as unpatriotic because they would rather travel to Mecca than Tiananmen Square. A large scale example of religious oppression would be the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation and simple philosophy practice which has nothing to do with the government at all. However, when their numbers broke 100 million, the CCP saw it as a threat and it was banned. Since then, Falun Gong practitioners have been publicly assaulted, arrested and imprisoned without trial and in some cases, tortured or put to death. However, the CCP has gotten much of the Chinese people under their control and influenced their opinions of others (more so than other countries do. Most of us at least back up what we have to say.) The other group of the oppressed is the cultural minorities such as the Tibetans and people of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ever since Tibet became a part of China, the CCP has attempted cultural integration towards the Tibetan people to try to unite them with the mainstream Chinese culture. (Nationalism at its best.) We all know of the crisis and resistance to this going on in Tibet right now. Tibetans are more committed to themselves than the political party that controls them. Workers such as farmers are also said by the International Labor Rights Fund to be oppressed in ways such as long hours and low pay. And as far as their Foreign policy is concerned, we all know of the genocide in Darfur in which the Janjaweed oppressors are supplied and funded by the Chinese government. Unfortunately, in attempt to realize a dream of total unity for China, the CCP has resorted to methods of fear and oppression in attempt to obtain it. So as a result of this attempt to realize the Communist dream in China, millions have been killed whether it is from execution or starvation through party policies.

There are many different ideas as to what should be done in response to Chinese Human Rights violations. Some say that we shouldn’t get involved in their affairs and let them run their own country. Others say we should keep a state of mutual cooperation with them but try to negotiate with them on these issues, and some say that we should cut off all trade with them, boycott the Olympics, and have nothing to do with them until they change their ways. Throughout the years the United Nations has addressed issues such as oppression of Falun Gong practitioners and the supply of the Janjaweed, but little has been done in effort to stop it due to the US’s economic ties and cooperation with China. Some groups had also considered boycotting the Beijing Olympics.(But doing that probably would have done nothing more than give more gold medals to the Chinese and angered our own athletes) The best solution would probably be to raise public awareness of what’s going on and to write to you government officials saying what you think should be done. Relations with the Chinese in the Future might change is public opinion changes. Thankfully a lot has already been done. Back in 2004, China was dropped from the international top ten list for human rights violators.

The Chinese Communist party may have been able to bring up China as a World power, but it was and still is at the cost of the freedoms and basic rights of many. It doesn’t have to be that way. Chinese government can reform itself and be able to maintain its status a powerful nation. China has the richest history of the world and one of the most influential cultures in the world and it shouldn’t be tainted by oppression in these modern times.