China's record of human rights violations is long and mind-boggling. Atrocities such as purging tens of millions of people during the Cultural Revolution, its infamous one-child-per-couple Population Policy, persistent oppression of Tibet and the bloody June 4 massacre at Tienanmen Square in 1989 have given the Chinese government a reputation of having little respect for human life. And yet, despite its tarnished record, China maintains its Most Favoured Nation trade status with the US and is one of Canada's top ten recipients of bilateral trade. As supposed supporters of human rights, Canadian and US governments have developed hypocritical attitudes toward China, compromising ethical values for material gain. Instead, North American nations should restrict aid and trade with China to programs that can be used to encourage social reforms. Both Canada and the US have ideological duties to defend human rights. Being relatively young nations, both were conceived in a time when respect for civil liberties was growing and the idea of democracy was flourishing. While most of Europe developed democracy and current values and beliefs over centuries of monarchical rule, North America merely inherited the system from its European roots. Thus Canada and the US grew from a fundamental basis of independence and freedom, which developed into the conviction that both nations boast of today. It is because of this faith that the governments should take tougher actions against persistent human rights violators in order to protect the values of its citizens as democratic institutions. A democratic government, in theory, holds responsibility to its citizens and acts in accordance with the wishes of the citizens. (Lizhi 168) A recent p... ... middle of paper ... ...there is still much to be asked for before the people are able to enjoy full social and political freedom. As free, democratic nations, Canada and the US have developed with a deep respect for human rights. In light of recent events, however, both governments have demonstrated a weakening stance against human rights violators, putting economics over individual rights and freedoms. Although international trade is important, it is no excuse to shelve the responsibility of promoting human rights. Instead, North Americans should limit aid programs to China to those that help progress. Canada and the US have the economic and political influence to achieve their goals, but it would be unwise to pursue them to point of causing excessive damage domestically. Integrity in the belief of universal human rights must be maintained if it is ever to become a reality.
The issue of human rights has arisen only in the post-cold war whereby it was addressed by an international institution that is the United Nation. In the United Nation’s preamble stated that human rights are given to all humans and that there is equality for everyone. There will not be any sovereign states to diminish its people from taking these rights. The globalization of capitalism after the Cold War makes the issue of human rights seems admirable as there were sufferings in other parts of the world. This is because it is perceived that the western states are the champion of democracy which therefore provides a perfect body to carry out human rights activities. Such human sufferings occur in a sovereign state humanitarian intervention led by the international institution will be carried out to end the menace.
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush reached out to the world to back the U.S. in a war to eradicate terrorism. One of the more surprising participants in this coalition, China, had until that point been at odds with U.S. policy but seemed to find sufficient common ground with the U.S. to support the war. In recent months however, China has not been lauded for unprecedented cooperation with its “strategic competitor” but has instead been criticized for using the war on terror as carte blanche to step up its “Strike Hard” campaign in the Uigher Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the northwest, resulting in unprecedented numbers of executions of political prisoners, a suspension of free religious worship, and a general decline in respect for human rights. The western media has claimed that Beijing had been waiting for a chance to crack down on Uigher separatists and is now behaving as an opportunist to pursue these goals while the U.S. is in no position to decry its behavior. However, this opportunism argument only explains some of the recent actions in Xinjiang; in this paper I will seek to show that Beijing’s increased policing of Xinjiang serves primarily to demonstrate to the international community that it will not be excluded from Central Asia.
Many people and nations around the world are deprived of human rights. The government in the countries or nations usually can not help the people being deprived. Either because the government is too poor to, it is not one of the things the government is looking into, or the government does not know or care. Because of this certain people, or even whole populations are denied human rights and their living conditions and way of life are usually not on the positive side of things. There are many wealthier countries trying to help but sometimes that is not enough. To what extent should Canada have a role in working to increase human rights protection in other nations?
The Chinese have repeatedly tortured, imprisoned, and murdered Tibetans all for what they claim is national unity. While the oppression of the Tibetan people began in the 1950’s with the invasion of China, it continues just as strongly today. From religious oppression and unfair trials to the torture of nuns and monks, the Chinese abuse even the most reverent aspects of Tibetan culture. Political prisoners, whether they are monks, nuns or lay people, are tortured with utter disregard for human rights. Chinese laws have also been established to eradicate the Tibetan people entirely. Women often must endure forced abortions and sterilization due to Chinese birth policies. Through all of these crimes against humanity, China repeatedly commits acts of genocide as established by the United Nations.
Essentially the Chinese government would need to provided assurances that suspected criminals sent back to China will be given due process or that prisoners wouldn’t be executed.The only way to assure China’s commitment is through monitoring. Monitoring is essential because without it innocent individuals could die in jail. However, monitoring is a challenge in itself. Canada has to act as a watchdog by putting controls in place to keep China in check, but there’s no guarantee that China will abide by the rules. As mentioned above, China currently uses many illegal techniques, such as fox-hunting. So it becomes the question of can Canada change ingrained beliefs about unethical treatment in China? United Nations Committee against Torture has said that in China “the practice of torture and ill-treatment is still deeply entrenched in the criminal-justice system” (Vanderklippe, 2017, para. 20). In one case, Chinese businessman “Peter Zhao” fled to Canada after five days of interrogation by Shuanggui investigators in which he said he was forced to sit in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time and repeatedly ordered to confess to bribery by interrogators who screamed, swore and insulted him. It brought him to a mental breakdown. “I thought it would be better to be dead,” said Mr. Zhao, who spoke on the condition that his real name and other identifying details not be used because he fears for the safety of family still in China. (Vanderklippe, 2017, para. 22). The example of Zhao is one of many cases that occur in China on a daily basis and has been occurring for a countless number of years. Thus, it would be ignorant for Canada to think that by simply signing an extradition treaty the structure and the entire way of thinking in the Chinese legal system would change over
China-Canada relations are clearly improving, due the fact that the two-way trade between Canada and China has sharply increased about eight times in the last 10 years alone. This increase in trade has massively increased the improvement of visas and the amount of visitors which come to Canada from China, not to mention the $55 billion that is now gained. “If China had a runny nose, the world will have a cold,” said China’s Consul General in Toronto, Fang Li, referring to the sturdy foothold China has on the global economy. This is undoubtedly true, however China needs Canada’s co-operation in regards to clean technology, environmental technology, food processing and health fields. Fang Li continues to point out that there are “1.5 million Chinese Nationals” living and studying in Canada compared to the 4000 Canadian students that study in China. This has caused China’s government to put in place a policy “where it will pick up the tuition of the student.” The Western criticisms of China’s human rights are partly to blame for this; however, China-Canada relations have started to “progress China into a more democratic society” and change the country as a whole. The result is clear: Canada’s global connections toward China are beneficial to all Canadians.
The two countries I have chosen to compare are China and Canada. Their systems of government are very different and have different powers and rolls in their country. Canada has a system of government very similar to our own. While china's government appears to be similar as well, but it is quite different. Canada's government democratic and is parliamentary in form but, very much like our own. Like all large governments it is representative democracy.
Though the modern concept of human rights is originated from the Western world, it is believed to be a universal principle regardless of cultures. Meanwhile, people particularly concern the compatibility of human rights and Confucianism, which has a long history and still exerts influences in East Asia. It also poses a question to whether a traditional thinking still has its values in the modern context.
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
Since the initial warming of U.S.-China relations in the early 1970’s, policymakers have had difficulty balancing conflicting U.S. policy concerns in the People’s Republic of China. In the strange world of diplomacy between the two, nothing is predictable. From Nixon to Clinton, presidents have had to reconcile security and human rights concerns with the corporate desire for expanded economic relations between the two countries. Nixon established ties with Mao Zedong’s brutal regime in 1972. And today Clinton’s administration is trying to influence China’s course from within a close economic and diplomatic relationship.
Additional meso-level legitimacy considerations that fall outside the framework of a PESTEL analysis are centered around the transnational relationships among China and other countries. China faces pressure from other developed countries (i.e. Western Europe and the U.S.) to address human rights issues in its country. While these countries have taken little punitive action against China because of the interdependencies of their economies, as Chinese. China is permanent member of the UN Security Council and participates in INTERPOL; however China has not submitted an International Court of Justice jurisdiction declaration.
From the beginning of their establishment, the bilateral relations between the United States of America and China have changed throughout the time. The bilateral relations of the two countries emerged from 1970’s with the ‘Ping-Pong’ diplomacy and there have been many pauses in their mutual relations. The US and China enjoyed cooperation in economic and military spheres and the mutual relations grew massively during until the end of 1990’s. The heads of the two states began visiting each other’s countries and the economic ties were tightening year by year. However, the issues of human rights and free speech declined mutual Sino-American relations. The American principle of democracy promotion and human rights protection minimized the Sino- American relations after the Tiananmen Square events in 1989, the US Presidents-George Bush and Bill Clinton- playing a key role in determining the further American foreign policy towards China.
In the race to be the best, China is clearly outperforming the United States. China has strong economic fundamentals¬ such as “a high savings rate, huge labor pool, and powerful work ethic” (Rachman, Gideon. "Think Again: American Decline). Their economy has grown an astonishing 9-10% over the past thirty years; almost double of what it used to be decades ago. China is also the “world’s greatest manufacturer and its greatest market” (Rachman). The continuing growth of China's economy is a source of concern for not only the U.S. but surrounding nations as well. One could argue that the U.S. need not worry about China’s growth because of the spread of globalization and that western ideologies would influence China to turn to democracy. Yet China has still managed to “incorporate censorship and one party rule with continuing economic success” (Rachman) and remains a communist country. Hypothetically, even if China does resort to a democratic state, this does not gua...
China is one of the main viable candidates as this century’s new world power. Today, it maintains a strong economic stance within the international market, and is expanding at a rapid pace. The United States cannot maintain its position as hegemon for the rest of humanity; just as how ...
Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the discourse of international human rights and its importance has increasingly become indoctrinated in the international community. In the context of political and economic development, there have been debates on how and which rights should be ordered and protected throughout different cultures and communities. Though there is a general acceptance of international human rights around the globe, there is an approach that divides them into civil and political rights and social and economic rights, which puts emphasis where it need not be.