Economic giant, human rights dwarf

Posted by admin on Oct 20, 2009 in Issues & Ideas | 0 comments

China may be an economic giant, but it is a human rights dwarf. Though it possesses economic power, it is not accompanied by the usual political influence.

This past summer, headlines were overrun with enthusiastic reports; China was emerging as an economic giant within the international community. Global gossip reports also suggested that it would become the adversary to the Western hegemony of the 21st Century.

China has bought more than one trillion dollars of American debt and is the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries. During the days of barbeques and tanning lotion, critics failed to mention how China’s growing economic strength, stands in stark contrast to its lack of political clout.
The pity is the global community has been seduced by the dollar signs and overlooked China’s (all too common) tendency to be in violation of international human rights.

One thing the Chinese love more than homegrown weapons, military force and missiles is capital punishment. Last year, China executed at least 1,718 people while Chinese courts handed out more than 7,000 new death sentences.

Amnesty International believes that the true figures are much larger but such premonitions cannot be verified. China enthusiastically embraces state sovereignty and does not release the relevant figures.

In China, the death penalty applies to 68 crimes, including public-order offenses, embezzlement, tax fraud, killing of pandas and corruption. There are two execution methods in China: shooting by an assault rifle and lethal injection.

Apart from the debatable guilt of the victims, it’s important to note that many executions take place in front of massive crowds; sport stadiums work overtime as killing theatres. BBC News reported that, “Prisoners are … paraded through the streets past thousands of people on the way to execution by firing squad in nearby fields or courtyards.”

For awhile, the government had collected a “bullet fee” from the families of the victims, but thankfully this primitive tradition has been discontinued. Today, the government provides the bullets that execute approximately five
people each day.

This rudimentary system of permanent punishment in China is in desperate need of renovation. Amnesty International insists, “The taking of life by the state is one of the most drastic acts a government can undertake.”

The United Nations General Assembly has voted, by a large majority, for a resolution calling for an end to the death penalty in China; President Hu Jintao’s government needs to follow the request made by the UN.

The gigantic Chinese taste buds for capital punishment need to be suppressed. The West needs to realize that the East is an economic giant and a human rights dwarf.