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CHINA’S HUMAN
RIGHTS FOR SALE
by Dr. David B. Axelrod
Recently a Chinese friend of mine, a naturalized
U.S.citizen, received a call that one of his cousins back in
China had disappeared. He risked his own safety by traveling back to
China to try and help his family. It seems the cousin had been picked up by the
authorities and no further word on his whereabouts or status with the law was
forthcoming. Once again, the tyranny which is
China is apparent to all those who care to see. There is no freedom,
no rule of law.
As a founder and the Vice President of a not-for-profit organization
promoting Chinese-American understanding, I hear such stories regularly. I lived
in China in the 90's and have visited back a number of times. While our leaders might
say otherwise, anyone who assesses China honestly must conclude that,
for all the talk of democratization, China's increasing economic power has done little to improve the human rights of
its nearly 1.3 billion citizens.
There is little resembling a "rule of law."
People are still unable to speak freely, let alone publish their ideas in print
or on-line. They can not gather in any numbers. They are unable to practice
their religion except within strict dictates of their government. They are
restricted in nearly every way that we Americans would expect, ourselves, to be
free.
Yet, our own official foreign policy is to ignore, or worse,
lie about
the conditions in China. Our leaders foster the belief that with economic growth,
China will also see the virtues of democracy. Nothing could be further from the
truth. The danger of such dreaming is that China is increasingly able to control
us, limiting our options to reign in the
tyranny.
China represents a major threat to our own freedom here in the U.S.. No, not a
military but an economic threat just as real and potentially devastating to our
way of life as any force that could be directed against us.
Certainly it is not my intention here to inflame prejudice
or paranoia. Nor do I wish to bang some jingoistic or protectionist drum. As I
child I was taught to fear the "Red Menace." I think the world and I
have come a long way since then! Even so, nothing could be more indicative of the
growing threat the present government of the People's Republic of China
presents than
U.S.relations with Taiwan.
It isn't bad enough that the
U.S.and its mass media now refer to those in Tibet who want to restore their independence
as "separatists" or worse, terrorists. Now, the
U.S. is trying to tell Taiwan's President, Chen
Shui-bian, that he should do nothing to arouse
China's government, lest he provoke
their military wrath. President Chen had the nerve to suggest that his people could vote in a referendum
on whether to officially protest China's growing number of missiles and military build-up being directed at
Taiwan. Clearly, such a vote is a not-so-subtle statement that
Taiwan wishes to be independent of the mainland.
President Bush cautioned that such a referendum would upset the
status-quo. Clearly we've drifted ever so far from the rallying cries to
defend Quemoy
and Matsu
(islands claimed by both
Taiwanand the mainland) in the 50's and 60's. Now we have not only pledged
ourselves to the mainland, we are joining the campaign to intimidate and silence
Taiwan. It can't be long before we
acquiesce to mainland wishes that
Taiwan be subdued.
After all, the British left Hong Kong
to the grinding wheels of tyranny. Just after the British surrender of
Hong Kong, characteristic propaganda slogans began appearing in
large, colorful letters
on walls and in public places of the City, touting how important it was to
"work for the public good." School books were changed to present a message
that not only promoted obedience but denigrated individualism.
Beijing continues to chip away at democracy, as likely maddened by the slow pace that
public opinion seems to require.
The Taiwanese will probably not fare so well. An invasion may not be
imminent, but it seems likely that
U.S. and other countries' singular desire to trade with
China will embolden the mainland tyrants to tighten their control of
Taiwan. Democracy will fall far faster in
Taiwan than the graceful lowering of the British flag over the Governor's mansion in
Hong Kong. As for the
U.S., if we were to come to our senses, it is probably already too late to change
course.
China's surging economy has become a better weapon than anything nuclear.
As long as the U.S. and other "trading partners"
continue to look the other way on matters of human rights, or worse, join in the
suppression of democracy, China has one clear freedom: to wage capitalism! As
surely as China could shake the world by just toying with its currency, we are
more and more under their sway! Just as surely as
China's continues to strangle freedom within
its own borders and its neighbors.
True the threat is not nuclear as in the old days of the "Red
Menace" but it is truly dangerous. There is no freedom in what passes for
China's "free trade." What a misnomer that is! The
ultimate consequence of the
U.S. sell-out of human rights in other countries is that our own freedoms are
inevitably going to be sacrificed to
China's ever-growing demands.
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