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Growing U.s-china Trade Not Furthering Chinese Democracy by
Last week, former leader Li Peng defended, in hindsight, the 1989 Tiannemen Square massacre. Chinese leaders announced its hard line against the return to Tibet of the Dalai Lama. The government arrested a pro-democracy candidate for election in Hong Kong. And Chinese police arrested a Buddha, seizing the temple.Perhaps the most indicative statement about the current Chinese government's feelings towards democracy was the publication earlier this month of a statement by former leader Li Peng of an article concerning the Tiannemen Square massacre of 1989. Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were killed on June 3-4 of that year when army units fired on the student-led pro-democracy demonstrations. Li — who had declared martial law several days before — was widely blamed for the attack, and dubbed the "Butcher of Beijing." In his article, Li defended the massacre, stating that "putting down that political disturbance ensured the long-term stability of the country and provided indispensable conditions for China's future development and improvement," The democracy movement in Hong Kong received another blow with the arrest of Alex Ho, a candidate of the pro-democracy Democratic Party not endorsed by Beijing. Ho was arrested on August 19 and accused of procuring a prostitute. He was told that he would not be released until he signed a confession, and that if he did do so, he would be charged instead with rape. After Ho finally relented, he was not released as promised, but sentenced to six months in prison. Chinese authorities have the power to detain people without trial for as long as two years for many minor crimes. Ho may be released before then, but would still be ineligible now for election. Hong Kong has been struggling to maintain a democratic government ever since it reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. The Hong Kong constitution developed by the Chinese government actually specifies an elected government, allowing changes to the constitution, beginning in 2007. There have been several other anti-democratic incidents in recent months with respect to Hong Kong.Although, officially, the Chinese constitution protects religious freedom, the Communist government has historically banned all worship outside of government-sponsored "patriotic" religious organizations. From a human rights standpoint, the greatest threat came with the arrests of the 8 priests and the seizure of the new Buddhist temple. According to the BFA and a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Beijing, about 70 Chinese and seven American citizens were arrested in the raid. "The fire department kicked down the door and dragged them out," a BFA member told Reuters, and two truckloads of "priceless religious artifacts and personal belongings" were seized as well. Police cancelled the ceremony and then boarded up the temple, citing safety concerns, according to the embassy spokesperson. In an unrelated incident about a month before, the Chinese government arrested eight Roman Catholic priests. The Chinese government also clarified its demands of the Dalai Lama last week, saying that he must, among other things, renounce independence for both Tibet and Taiwan. The Chinese government has also stated that it will not negotiate the Dalai Lama's return directly with him, but only through a representative. Chinese leaders in Tibet, a deeply Buddhist region, are not only concerned about the political affect of the return of the Dalai Lama, but have even banned photographs of the Dalai Lama. Anti-Chinese riots in Tibet led the Chinese government to impose martial law in 1989.According to News Informant Editor Bernie Perlstein, "In the past week or so, the Chinese government has provided ample evidence of its disregard for human rights and democratic principles." Partly, these actions may be the result of fear of public displeasure, he said. Rural poverty, great disparities of wealth, overcrowded cities and government corruption, as well as air pollution are major problems that cause outrage in the populace. Add the expected new round of inflation, and the government may believe that any yielding towards political freedom would make the country a tinderbox. But, he added, "The same governmental bureaucratic forces that resist change will also hinder solving China's political and economic problems."Given the Chinese government's disregard of human rights at a time when their trading with the U.S. continues to grow, will the U.S. government impose sanctions to spread democracy to Chinese citizens? Perlstein commented, "No one can be certain that efforts on the part of the U.S. government to defend Chinese human rights will be successful. All that can be said is that there will be no success if the U.S. does not try." The News Informant article in its entirety, and its sources, can be found on the web at: http://www.newsinformant.com/2004_08_23/foreign_relations.php#000754. A free registration is required to view the article.To request a free copy of the article, or to obtain reprint rights or other use of the article, please contact e-mail protected from spam bots.About News Informant Inc.: News Informant Inc. publishes News Informant, a weekly U.S.-based web news magazine focusing on news analysis of important domestic and global issues that are not sufficiently covered by the U.S. media. The magazine uses primarily respected worldwide online source material to render original information and perspectives. The periodical follows the slogan, "It's Not Just the News – It's What's Behind the News."For additional information on News Informant and media inquiries, please contact: Tonya D. HottmannNews Informant Inc.312-644-9868http://www.newsinformant.com/.
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