Should The US Even Discuss Human Rights With China?

January 19th, 2011

In the US, different constituencies like to focus on different issues, not realizing that Chinese tend to see issues as a whole, with everything connected in one way or another.

President Obama has said that he intends to draw a harder line with China on human rights, and recently invited some China human rights experts to discuss the issue with him.

At the same time, former vice president Cheney said that the Obama administration had come around to its hardline point of view on the war on terror, and was now following closely in the Bush administration’s footsteps.

The problem here is that the policies that the US has done in the Bush version of the global war on terror have made the Chinese government’s human rights violations look small in comparison. Many Americans would contest this view, but the better part of diplomacy is about being able to understand how others view issues in our globalized world.

If this is indeed the case, then Obama is at a distinct disadvantage in even bringing up the issue with the Chinese president, and should even consider not broaching the subject. Bringing it up would get a quick rebuttal from the Chinese president for its own human rights violations, and helping him to win points with Chinese, and the current and future Chinese leadership, for standing up to the US’s interference in domestic affairs.

When It Comes To China, Outside Pressure Doesn’t Work

January 18th, 2011

In the frequently sad history of China’s relations with the west, the predominant narrative in the west is an often exaggerated belief in the power to influence events in China. In fact, when the west tries to exert its influence, it frequently fails. This is because of:

  • The Chinese tend to be nationalist, resisting outside interference, and different Chinese governments have used that to their advantage.
  • The westerners often pick the wrong horse to back, choosing the horse they like and communicates with the west better, but who is often held in disdain, even contempt, by the Chinese.
  • Especially in the US, legislators and media pundits who don’t understand China try to set the agenda on China, even though they have no understanding of China. Their own PR needs outweigh the need for real understanding.
  • The west emphasizes the power of the individual, while the Chinese tend to weigh the interests of the whole.

On the eve of President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US, this is made clear by Senator Charles Schumer’s promise to start a trade war with China. If Congress jumps on this bandwagon, things will get tough.

In my next article, I will talk about how the Chinese make things tough for the interlocutors.

Behind The Scenes In China

July 9th, 2008

Just a quick note about what I see happening behind the scenes in China.

The administration of Hu Jintao has made a recent effort to push for transparency and accountability in China, especially related to disbursement of funds related to the Sichuan earthquake, and then acting quickly against corrupt local officials in Wengan in Guizhou province.

The center in Beijing is responding to a popular demand for greater accountability and transparency, and is using this as an opportunity clean house within the ruling party. The message from Beijing to the local party officials is simple: Shape up or be removed from your position.

When Deng Xiaoping introduced his reforms beginning in 1978, he gave local officials wide leeway as to how investment was brought in. The reason for this was simple: Beijing had no money; it was bankrupt. The side effect of this policy has been rampant local corruption. All kinds of games have been played in the name of making the numbers reported back to Beijing. Many of these corrupt officials have escaped China, and are living in the US in multi-million dollar mansions paid for in cash. Behind the scenes, the Hu administration has been quietly working with the US’s Justice Department to bring these officials back to China for prosecution.

As the amounts of the corruption have grown, so has popular resentment. Beijing knows that it must act to clean house. The failure of local governments and party organizations to act forcefully and clean up their own houses have handed Beijing an excellent excuse to act forcefully, and handed multiple PR victories to the center. Chinese bloggers who highlight local corruption have become the eyes and ears of Beijing on the local level. When the decision is made that local corruption needs to be escalated to the national level, then Xinhua mobilizes its formidable machine to shape public opinion on the national level. Then Beijing comes in and acts forcefully, removing the corrupt officials, and making them an example to local government and party organizations all over China.

If you believe that this is simply about accountability and transparency though, you would be naive. It is also about money and how investment decisions are made in China.

Beijing is seeking to recover many of the financial and investment decision making powers which Deng handed over to the provinces and local party officials. In the context of this drive against local corruption, the local administrations and organizations are in a weak position to resist Beijing’s efforts to recover investment-making decisions. China needs higher value-added, higher technology industries which rely more on research, development and IP. Provincial governments and party organizations have not acted quickly enough to upgrade from inefficient, dirty industries which rely on cheap labor. This means that now the investment decisions need to be made from the center in Beijing, with the support of public opinion, of course.

While the Chinese government does not understand PR in a western context, it knows exactly what it’s doing in a Chinese context.