The Democratic Caucus at Harvard Kennedy School
by Mary Smith on December 6, 2009 in Dems v. Reps, Opinion
China is a complex country with a history, a people, and an economy starkly different from the United States. China views this as its time to establish itself as a world leader. For these reasons, the United States has an interesting and difficult task ahead. The United States must figure out approaches which will help shape China’s growth. The United States does not intend to, indeed cannot, dictate how China develops, but resolution of contentious issues such as international security, global economic growth, and human rights are integral parts of our diplomatic relationship with China.
China wants to forge its own path, and part of its path is a different approach toward government. Politically, the Chinese have been very successful with their authoritarian regime and have no reason to reform their government. The Chinese do not want to emulate the United States’ rise to international prominence. They see no reason to copy the American democratic system, when their own system has been so successful.
This places the United States in a weak negotiating position. The United States feels strongly about the moral grounds of democracy, competition, and dissent. Our democracy may not always be very pretty, but we are immensely proud of our system. The Chinese have no practical reasons to adopt a tumultuous democratic system such as our own, when they have seen such developmental success with their own form of government.
For the sake of the Chinese people, we should continue to pressure China to open up their system of government. The Chinese need not adopt a system identical to the Americans, but we should strongly push for a system that allows political competition, free discussion of the media, and dissent by the people. The Chinese people, who comprise one-sixth of the world population, deserve an open and democratic government that reflects the diverse views of the citizens.
China is also a major force in international politics and is helping shape the development of nations all over the globe. Countries, looking to China rather than the Western powers, see the success of China’s authoritarian government. The spread of anti-democratic governments is a threat to everyone, including those under the rule of authoritarian regimes as well as the rest of the world community. We must negotiate forcefully with China on the issue of human rights in order to prevent the spread of authoritarian governments to the developing world. We must do this to protect the people in the developing world, ourselves, and the rest of the international community. We cannot let the 21st century be defined as the era of the spread of authoritarian rule and undemocratic governments.
Addressing the human rights situation in China is a top priority for the United States, but we are also trying to balance environmental safety, trade partnerships, monetary stability, and military dominance in our relationship with China. The U.S. relationship with China is not a simple discussion only about human rights; rather, it is a multifaceted discussion over the future of our countries and the direction in which we will lead the international community. An overemphasis on one issue may lead China to restrict the scope and extent of its diplomatic relationship with the United States. The United States must take a strong but nuanced position to pressure China into opening up their form of government.
The United States must consider several factors before determining its position on human rights. This does not imply that the United States should back down on the issue of human rights. We cannot let any of our short-term interests drown out our opposition to human rights violations perpetuated by the Chinese. Human rights concerns must remain a top priority and a major part of our diplomatic efforts towards China. The issue of human rights is just too important to the lives of the Chinese people as well as to the safety of the world community to ignore.
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