China, China, China.

The diplomatic relationship between Canada and China are at the moment rather in poor shape. Stephen Harper, in a speech made last week, criticized the extent to which businesses and governments were able to dispose of their ethics for the sake of “the almighty dollar.” The current conservative government maintains that an increased emphasis on human rights violations is of the essence. This is contrary to the stance of the Liberals, who maintain that advancing China’s economy will invariably lead to a quasi-trickling-down effect, inducing greater freedom for its people.

In this week’s Maclean’s, a story was featured that was heavily critical of that Liberal perspective. The author interviewed a professor of politics that stated that that seemed a very likely evolution in the 80s. However, the professor went on to say, that that has turned out not to be the reality. Whatever the case may be, it is accurate to report that China has managed to create a robust economic platform, while sustaining the controlling nature of its regime.

However, the oppressiveness that’s associated with that control is seemingly overlooked by the media. Perhaps this is because China is so untypical of other oppressive regimes. For one, the Chinese are in large part not on the brink of any social disaster – be it famine, disease, or whatnot. For another, China embraces new technology, albeit manipulates it to its ends. The Westerners see those technological advancements, and thus assume a satisfied population. The truth is that only a small fraction of the Chinese are actually enjoying the benefits of new technologies, and of those that do have access – the technologies tend to only reinforce the government’s control. The Internet is heavily censored, and citizens are unable to view pro-democratic websites. Blogs have facilitated locating and jailing/killing political dissidents, thanks in large part to the cooperation afforded to the Chinese by the American blogging companies. Televisions/Radios only broadcast what the government wants its people to hear.

China is indisputably in the hands of an oppressive regime. Perhaps not so for Western capitalists, but that’s certainly the case for its general populace. This leads to a duality of treatment, and the video below displays just how these two opposing dynamics interact in such an environment.
Underground Video taken in China

You’ll see me talking alot about China. This is mostly because I am of the belief that it is inexcusable to promote governments that kills *peaceful* pro-rights protesters, single-handedly prevents UN action in Darfur, and carries out its own acts of cultural genocide. If China weren’t the economic goldmine it is today, Western nations would have a foreign policy that’s 180° of what they are now.

Naturally, bettering economies is an integral component of all government policy. However, one has to wonder as to the ultimate legacy that that will leave unto the world. If governments don’t coerce change, who will?

NGOs certainly don’t have any wielding power with self-sufficient China, and corporations are already going so far as to have Chinese citizens executed for more money. The Chinese government has found economic grandeur without the need to prop up rights further, and its citizens are powerless to express their discontent on a grand scale. It is up to the foreign governments then to stand up. If they won’t, no one will.

I’m not so naive as to believe that Canada’s actions could single-handedly instill change with concepts deeply entrenched in the Chinese political monoculture. However, the ball needs to get rolling somewhere, and inaction certainly won’t accumulate the momentum necessary to create tangible pressure for change.

Nor am I gullible enough to believe that the Western nations haven’t spent incredible resources into improving the conditions in China over the last decades. However, I am naive enough to believe that the current policies need a drastic change in direction.

China, one of the 5 members on the UN security council, has vetoed UN deployment in Darfur to stop the genocide. Their reason is quite simple: they want cheap Sudanese oil. We, the Westerners, consider this appaling. And yet, we hypocritically allow China to commit its own atrocities, because it satisfies our own economic gain. Tell me: how are we better?