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Europe
is lagging behind the U.S. in condemning China's Human
Rights practices
(UN
Vote on March 19th)
By JONATHAN
POWER
March 14, 2001
LONDON - Nothing could have been more revealing of the
ambiguities at the heart of western policy towards China
than when, in March 1997, the annual vote came up at the
UN Human Rights Commission to condemn China's record on
the treatment of its dissidents and minorities.
Denmark, with strong support from the Netherlands, had
tabled a critical motion. The Chinese lobbyists went into
overdrive. Denmark was told by Beijing that its criticism
would be a "rock that smashed down on the Danish
government's head". Several Danish contracts were
cancelled and, as Chris Patten, now the European Union
commissioner responsible for foreign affairs, wrote in
his book, "East and West", "And what did anyone do?
Nothing. What in particular did members of the EU do?
They looked the other way".
In 1998 Europe went one step further or, as Human
Rights Watch described it, "a major step backwards".
Rewarding China for its bad behaviour the previous year,
the European foreign ministers threw in the towel. The
president of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council, the
British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, cited the token
release of Wei Jingsheng, China's most well known
political prisoner, as an example of the results of the
dialogue, a proposition roundly denounced by Wei himself.
In conversation with me, Wei observed, "When Beijing's
relations with the West improve, conditions got worse for
the dissidents inside China's jails". It was with an
almost audible sigh of relief that Washington joined
Europe in dropping its sponsorship of the resolution. A
senior Clinton Administration figure was quoted in the
New York Times as saying: "It is being done as a
calculation. It is being done because we believe it is
the way to make progress in the future." As Wei shrewdly
added, "The Chinese government's concept of human rights
has not moved towards the universal standard of human
rights. On the contrary, the human rights values of
Western politicians have moved closer to those of
communist ChinaS."
It is quite pathetic, it is laughable, but above all
distasteful that Western countries regularly betray each
other and, in so doing, the human rights activists inside
China, in an effort to better position themselves in this
quite modest market place. If Western governments could
stand shoulder to shoulder and say to Beijing and mean
it: "Stop using economic and trade threats. You are in no
position to do so. It is unacceptable behaviour," Beijing
would get the message. Sometimes, as Patten once said
(before he took his present post) one has to pinch
oneself to remember who needs whom most. To begin with,
we should never forget that China represents only 1.7% of
all Western exports added together.
Only quite recently have cracks appeared in the
unseemly union between the old time leftist/liberals
fantasists who have supported "revolutionary" China
through thick and thin and the rightist, realpolitik,
habitués of the White House and European capitals
who first came to Beijing to balance Moscow and who
stayed on, enthralled by its vast "potential" market.
Just over a year ago the mood began to change. In
February last year the U.S. State Department in its
annual report noted that China's human rights record had
worsened over the past year. For the first time, the
State Department's reporting was as vigorous as that of
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Two months
later the U.S. (but not the EU) cast its vote against
China at the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights
Commission. At last the human rights lobby had broken
through the left-right consensus that had protected China
for so long. At the same time President Bill Clinton
balanced this by finally deciding that the time had come
to support China's entry into the World Trade
Organisation and by successfully persuading Congress to
give China permanent most-favoured-nation trade status.
This is the right mix: the continuous drumming and tattoo
of human rights lobbying, at the same time as trading,
commercial and educational links are being strengthened.
Over time it might work, if anything will, to loosen up
the dictatorship and widen the political space for
dissidents.
Perhaps rather surprisingly, given previous Republican
administrations' lack of concern about Chinese internal
behaviour, the White House has indicated it is going to
follow Clinton's lead and cast its ballot to censure
China on March 19th when the vote comes up at this year's
UN meeting. But it appears the European Union, still more
anxious about gaining commercial favours from Beijing
(not least for the Airbus super-jumbo plane) than giving
support to important principles (despite Mr Patten's own,
now internal, lobbying efforts) will not follow suit.
On such an important issue of the day does Europe want
to be seen as lagging behind the U.S.? For the moment the
answer is a very disappointing and quite
counterproductive "yes".
I can be reached by phone +44
7785 351172 and e-mail: JonatPower@aol.com
Copyright © 2001 By
JONATHAN POWER
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