| Human Rights In The People's Republic Of China |
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The situation of human rights in the People's Republic of China has been criticized by various sources, including other nations–particularly Western democracies–as well as international organizations, as being poor in many respects. Past human rights violations include the Great Leap Forward ,a program that caused 20 - 30 million Chinese to die of starvation, and the Tiananmen Square Protests Of 1989 , when 400-800 pro-democracy protestors were killed. While acknowledging allegedly major deficiencies, the PRC government has asserted that the human rights situation is improving and better than ever, and even some critics agree progress has been made. In addition, the PRC argues that the notion of human rights should include economic standards of living and measures of health and economic prosperity. Many contentious events have been seen as abuses by groups or nations outside Mainland China , while the PRC government tends to view them as necessary for public safety and social stability. THE SITUATION IN MAINLAND CHINA Today there are more than 1,300,000,000 people in China (almost one fifth of the world population). According to the United Nations Human Development Report (2003), China ranks 85 on Human Development Index ( HDI ) value, GDP Per Capita is 5,003 US$, and life expectancy at birth is 71.6 years. Multiple sources, including the U.S. State Department 's annual People's Republic Of China human rights reports, as well as studies from other groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have noted the PRC's well-documented abuses of Human Rights in violation of internationally recognized norms. LEGAL SYSTEM The Chinese legal system has been criticized as being arbitrary, corrupt and generally incapable of providing safeguards for basic freedoms. Defense attorneys are said to have little status or impact. The use of " Reeducation Camp s" are noted. Amnesty International recently released the following statements: ''In 2003, 84 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran , the USA and Vietnam . In China, limited and incomplete records available to Amnesty International at the end of the year indicated that at least 726 people were executed, but the true figure was believed to be much higher: a senior Chinese legislator suggested in March 2004 that China executes "nearly 10,000" people each year. At least 108 executions were carried out in Iran. Sixty-five people were executed in the USA. At least 64 people were executed in Vietnam.'' ''"In China - the country that accounts for around 80% of all executions - a person can be sentenced and executed for as many as 68 crimes, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud, embezzlement and drug offences. 1,770 executions were reportedly carried out in China during 2005. However, a Chinese legal expert was recently quoted as stating the true figure for executions is more like 8,000."'' {Link without Title} REPRESSION OF DISSENT The PRC is known for its extremely limited tolerance of organized dissent towards the government. Dissident groups are routinely arrested and imprisoned, often for long periods of time and without trial. Incidents of torture, forced confessions and forced labour are widely reported. Freedom of assembly and association are extremely limited in many cases. The Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the estimated death toll of which ranges from 400 to 2,600 and injuries from 7,000 to 10,000, is probably the most famous example of this kind of abuse. ETHNIC MINORITIES There are 55 recognized ethnic minorities in China. Some of them, Tibetan and Uygurs in particular, make up a majority in rural provinces in the west of China. In present day, the PRC is known to keep a strong military grip on parts of the country traditionally inhabited by these minorities in an effort to suppress separatist sentiment. Article 4 of the Chinese constitution states "All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal", and the government has made efforts to improve ethnic education and increased ethnic representation in local government. However the government remains harsh with minority religions, most notably Buddhism and Islam , wherever they are seen as helping separatist causes. In the past, the government has sought to stamp out local "folk religions" belonging to some ethnic minorities, and thousands of shrines have been destroyed over the years. Conversely, the one child policy is not applied to ethnic provinces and Affirmative Action campaigns have been adopted in some areas, though it is debated as to how successful the latter have been in benefitting minorities over Han Chinese. The government has encouraged significant numbers of Han Chinese to move into ethnic areas, which is perceived by some as an effort to "water down" the ethnic minority population and make regions less inclined towards separatism. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Chinese citizens must gain permission from the government to travel to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. In China, citizens must register an official place of residence designated either rural or urban. To move from one place to another the citizen needs permission from the authorities at their destination and/or origin. One of the purposes is to prevent large scale urbanisation. It is alleged that Chinese in Tibet have a far easier time acquiring the necessary permits to live in urban areas than ethnic Tibetans do {Link without Title} . FREEDOM OF SPEECH (''See also'': Media In China ) In spite of article 35 of the Chinese Constitution apparently guaranteeing the right of freedom of expression, censorship is widespread in China. There is heavy government involvement in the media, with many of the largest media organizations being run by the Communist government. References to Democracy, the free Tibet movement, Taiwan as an independent state, certain religious organizations and anything remotely questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China are banned from use in publications and blocked on the Internet. Recently, western web portals including Microsoft's MSN have come under criticism for aiding in these practices, including banning the word "Democracy" from its chat-rooms in China. Very few western films are given permission to play in Chinese theatres, although piracy of the same movies is widespread. ONE-CHILD POLICY China's birth limitation policy, known widely as the One-Child Policy , is seen as morally objectionable by many foreign observers, as well as some Chinese, as it is thought to contribute to female infanticide, abandonment and sex selective abortions. These are all believed to be relatively commonplace in some areas of the country, despite being illegal and punishable by fines and jail time. The Chinese government argues that this policy is necessary to stop overpopulation. In 2002, laws related to the One Child Policy were amended to allow ethnic minorities and rural Chinese to have more than one child; as well, many newly wealthy Chinese are bypassing the One Child Policy {Link without Title} . FREEDOM OF RELIGION ''(See also: Religion In China )'' During the Cultural Revolution , religious affairs of all types was persecuted and discouraged by the Communists with many religious buildings looted and destroyed. This attitude was relaxed in the early 1970s, the 1978 Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion with a number of restrictions. Memberships of the Communist Party have to be Atheistical according to the constitution of party. Party membership is required for many high level careers and being openly religious can therefore limit one's economic prospects. All religious groups must be registered with the government and must be nationalist, i.e. they are forbidden from following foreign entities or persons. This can lead to an effective prohibition on those religious practices that by definition involve allegiance to a foreign spiritual leader, (e.g. Catholicism . See Catholicism In China ) although tacit allegiance within these groups are not uncommon. Repression of unregistered religious practices is efficient and widespread. OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES Worker's rights and privacy are other contentious human rights issues in China. The issue of refugees from North Korea is a recurring one. It is official policy to repatriate them to North Korea, but the policy is not evenly enforced and a considerable number of them stay in the People's Republic (some move on to other countries). Though it is in contravention of international law to deport political refugees, as illegal immigrants their situation is precarious. Their rights are not always protected. Some of them are tricked into marriage or prostitution.[http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/Full%20Korea%20report%202005.pdf PDF link ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT At the same time, Mainland China 's economic growth and reform since 1978 has improved dramatically the lives of a huge number of Chinese, providing increased social mobility and expanded the scope of personal freedom. This has meant substantially greater freedom of travel, employment opportunity, educational and cultural pursuits, job and housing choices, and access to information. In all, this suggests a substantial rise in the quality of life and standard of living of the Chinese people, forming a certain contrast to mainland China's reputation abroad. In recent years, the PRC has also passed new criminal and civil laws that provide additional safeguards to citizens. Village elections have been ostensibly carried out in approximately 80% of mainland China's one million villages. PERSPECTIVE OF THE PRC GOVERNMENT The PRC government argues that the notion of human rights should include economic standards of living and measures of health and economic prosperity. In analyzing the situation of human rights in its own nation or abroad, the PRC takes into account social trends such as crime and poverty. In other words, when critiquing its internal situation, it sees the rise in the standard of living of the Chinese people as an indicator of improvement of the human rights situation, and when looking at the situation abroad, often notes the high rate of crime and/or poverty in places reputedly having a high standard of human rights. Thus it must be noted that a significant difference of viewpoints may exist as to what constitutes human rights, making it difficult for direct comparison between analyses from the two sides. The PRC government argues that the PRC does have significant human rights problems including impartial access to the courts, the use of torture, and lack of due process. However, the government argues that these issues can be and should be addressed within the current one-party political system, and that to push for fundamental change is foolish as it risks the tremendous economic gains that the PRC has accomplished over the last generation. Unofficially, many Chinese officials hold the unstated belief that as a developing country, China cannot afford the same level of human rights as developed countries. They argue that many Western countries abused human rights (through Slavery , Child Labor and Colonial Exploit ) as they rose to prosperity. Many Chinese people agree with their government that organized religion is a threat to the country and social stability. Some point to the Taiping Rebellion , which was rooted deeply in religion (though praised by the communist government as a patriotic, anti-imperialist movement), which cost millions of lives. Common mistrust of groups seen as "cults" is perhaps an enduring legacy of this conflict, or perhaps the result of generations of government propaganda. VIEWS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT In 2003 , the United States declared that despite some positive momentum in that year, and greater signs that the People's Republic of China was willing to engage with the U.S. and others on this topic, there was still serious backsliding. The PRC government has acknowledged in principle the importance of protection of human rights and has purported to take steps to bring its human rights practices into conformity with international norms. Among these steps are signature of the International Convention On Economic, Social, And Cultural Rights in October 1997 (ratified in March 2001 ) and signing of the International Convention On Civil And Political Rights in October 1998 (not yet ratified). In 2002, the PRC released a significant number of political and religious prisoners, and agreed to interact with United Nations experts on torture, arbitrary detention and religion. However, international human rights groups assert that there has been virtually no movement on these promises, and that the PRC still has a long way to go in instituting the kind of fundamental systemic change that will protect the rights and liberties of all its citizens. SEE ALSO
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