U.S. Censure of
China's Human Rights Abuses
Lung-chu Chen
In view of
the deteriorating human rights conditions in China, the United States
announced the other day that it will sponsor a resolution to censure
China's human rights record at the forthcoming meeting of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights, scheduled for Geneva in March.
China's immediate response was anger, emphasizing that the Chinese
government was firmly opposed to "the U.S. practice of interfering in
China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights."
As a matter of fact, the deteriorating conditions of human rights in China
include: a growing crackdown on political dissent, an ongoing campaign to
suppress the Falun Gong meditation movement, tightening controls on the
media and the Internet, and heightened controls on unregistered churches
and on the political and religious expression of ethnic minority groups,
especially Tibetans.
As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and as a signatory to
the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, China not only
has failed to comply with the letter and spirit of the U.N. Charter and of
the International Covenants on Human Rights, but has employed the control
and suppression of the freedom of religion and freedom of expression as an
instrument of policy.
Thanks to the contemporary global human rights movement, the international
human rights law, as based on the International Bill of Human Rights, has
become the yardstick by which to judge the legitimacy of a government.
Human Rights abuses and violations cannot be excused in the name of
"sovereignty" or "internal affairs." In today's world, it is a right to
criticize human rights violations wherever they may occur. Moreover, it is
a duty for every government and every concerned citizen of the world to
speak up against human rights abuses and violations.
As a member of the world community dedicated to the advancement of human
dignity values, the island nation of Taiwan should join in condemning
China's human rights abuses. |