Teaching Comparative

A Chinese perspective on human rights

While we're looking at the Chinese version of things, here's Xinhua's account of the state of human rights in China and other places. I think this reporting once again offers a valuable lesson about how Chinese perspectives differ from American perspectives.

It's an important part of thinking comparatively to understand these differences. You could ask your students to evaluate the metaphor that is used to conclude the article.

Frictions over human rights mirror different emphasis

"In the face of constant criticism of its human rights record, the Chinese government has been eager to show the world how it claims to protect its citizens' rights and interests...

"'A tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that is growing,' said Giorgio Magistrelli, executive general manager of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, referring to China's conflicts with the West in the field of trade.

"The same is true of human rights. While cases of rights violations grab headlines, the government claims to have been making steady efforts to improve its human rights record, especially in terms of poverty alleviation, education, and health care and social security for the needy...

"The frictions between the West and China lie in the different concepts of human rights. While developed nations preach individual freedom and certain political and economic rights, China, with its vast rural economy, argues it must ensure its people enjoy the freedom from want...

"To ensure freedom from want, the government has embarked on a mission to build a harmonious society, by which it means narrowing wealth gap and providing more help to the poor....

"The article goes on to explain progress in meeting policy goals:

• FREE NINE-YEAR COMPULSORY EDUCATION
• HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY
• MORE TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT
• RAISING LEGAL AWARENESS

"

The article concludes with this description:

"'The value of human rights is universal, but the dynamic of its implementation varies in different countries,' said [DongYunhu, vice-chairman of the China Society for Human Rights Studies], explaining China's approach.

"He had his own metaphor for the frictions between China and the West. 'Human rights is abstract like the concept of fruit, which is the collective notion of apples, pears and bananas, among others. When a certain country wants to push its idea of human rights onto the whole world as the only standard, it's like saying only banana is fruit, the apple and pear are not.'"

posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:24 AM