Editorial – The human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China continues to suffer numerous criticisms from many international associations dealing with this topic. A fairly frequent and well-known fact, which however often reflects a sort of banal and out-of-place pietism.
Beijing, in fact, wants to promote its vision of human rights and reshape the UN system to make it more suitable for comparing the diversity of the member states. A battle that will be the protagonist in Geneva, in the halls of the Palace of Nations. And the next appointment is for January 23, 2024. There is strong geopolitical attention on this front, even disproportionate in relation to global disturbances such as ongoing war conflicts.
For years now, China has been considered as a “special surveillance” by the West, and historically it seems to have consolidated the a priori preconception towards the Chinese state.
The US attitude can find reasons in a reverential fear towards China, with its entrepreneurial and creative modus operandi that continues to expand around the world.
Over time, a sort of distrust towards the Chinese people was artfully generated, with particular effect in Europe. First. Without further elements of evaluation. Then a growing number of Chinese entrepreneurs reached Europe, and in particular Italy.
Here the integration of the Chinese is now common practice. Although there has been an attempt to attribute the cause of the Covid pandemic spread to China, the openness of views and the fall of barriers and fences in massive popular thought do not now affect the average population.
We have all become citizens of the world. And while the Supreme Pontiff in fact also legitimizes quick blessings aimed at homosexual couples, the international picture is bleak.
We limit ourselves to simple and unheeded recommendations on “stop waging war”, so much so that the proclamations have become so banal that they no longer generate compulsion even in the most devout faithful.
So how can we not observe what is happening in Gaza? Furthermore, the communication that arrives does not even exhaustively report the real situations of those populations, and be careful, these conflicts are not just arising now, they have been ongoing for years and for ideological-territorial reasons of those populations that were already well known to the international community.
It follows that the international community should have acted first in prevention and not only now by trying to repress the unsolvable. When a conflict starts, those who pay the price are the people. Just look at what is happening in Ukraine.
The UN visit to Gaza was decided only yesterday following a Netanyahu – Blinken meeting. At the same time, however, it seems that the problems in the world are human rights from the Chinese point of view. What amounts to a real genocide is taking place in Gaza, with civilian victims in increasing numbers, and with a situation of daily living that has been collapsing for some time now.
A particularly hot topic, however observed in a diametrically opposite manner by the international community itself, but above all by Europe and America.
But isn’t Gaza covered by human rights? And isn’t the armament of Ukraine an encouragement to continue a war conflict? If you criticize the war on one side and on the other play it even indirectly with apparent defensive purposes, not only are you not being coherent, you risk not being credible.
The revision of human rights for China is a priority that probably constitutes a growing need for adaptation based on current times and the needs that that single state entails in terms of history, culture and action. But it’s certainly not a war. On the contrary.
But in recent history, President Xi Jinping’s coming to power in 2012 caused concern for NGOs and UN experts.
In recent years, on the topic of human rights, there have been increasingly clear and determined positions on the part of Beijing in the various speeches presented at the European headquarters in Geneva.
According to China, the main body for the protection of human rights, therefore the UN, should support the idea of ”constructive dialogue”, and refrain from “pointing fingers” at individual states.
Human rights are universal, but since each state has its own system, it seems normal that it adapts them based on certain elements. We are not only different in appearance, skin color, habits, but in cultures and history, traditions and settings that do not arise today.
The attention on human rights in this diversity of states belonging to the UN could therefore constitute a reason for some geopolitical experts to go and inspect the internal affairs of certain countries, including China.
On December 10, 2023, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. Established as a line after the Second World War, its intent was to establish a global justice system recognizing equal and essential rights for all.
But since its origin in different parts of the hemisphere, this declaration has often been the subject of criticism. Starting from the doubt of legitimacy, believing that it was drawn up by a minority of states in a period in which many peoples were still under colonialist actions. Furthermore, there are those who believe that the contemporary human rights system is a liberal and Western project, which privileges civil and political rights to the detriment of economic, social and cultural ones.
And furthermore, precisely because all this time has passed, the UN should take up China’s invitation, showing an attitude of dialogue and not just repressive and preconceived ideas.
Referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “a milestone in the international cause of human rights”, which celebrated in 2023 u.s. his 75 years old, the Minister of the International Liaison Department Liu Jianchao underlined that recent challenges – from the pandemic to world hunger to climate change – raise the question of knowing “how best to promote and protect human rights”.
Over the last few years, China has presented reports on human rights, increasingly adapting them to the evolution of life, always observing optimal developments also in relation to economic, social and cultural rights.
Over time, China has believed that the protection of these rights was characterized by the creation of new jobs, with standards of social protection and the possibility of retirement; in creating means of arbitration to resolve labor disputes; in the launch of urban plans for the construction of economically accessible homes and in the recovery of degraded areas to provide new housing solutions. Finally, China also optimistically presents the situation of freedom of expression in its territory, with mainly quantitative references to the number of newspapers and books in circulation
However, we must open our minds to China’s role in the world, observing its production and growth aspects. Just look at the fact that this nation has a technological solution to everything, the person at the centre. There are many companies that design and produce goods that are available for purchase only in China.
So enough preconceptions, to observe the events of the world we must free our thoughts from patterns intended for purposes other than those of real in-depth analysis of human rights.