China’s concerning new strategy on human rights: unite the world behind a ‘selective’ approach

Mon, 9 Oct 2023 19:45:59 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/chinas-concerning-new-strategy-on-human-rights-unite-the-world-behind-a-selective-approach-212007>

"For more than three decades, China has struggled to contain criticism of its
human rights record. It faced a storm of outrage over the Tiananmen Square
massacre in 1989 and condemnation of its mass incarceration of Muslim Uyghurs
in recent years. Each time, the Chinese government has had to deal with the
diplomatic fallout of its own repression.

To deflect this criticism, Chinese diplomats and propagandists have promulgated
a series of different claims.

On the one hand, they have tried to rally developing countries behind the idea
that the “right to subsistence” trumps concerns over other human rights.

Other times, the government has justified its dictatorship as an expression of
traditional Chinese “Confucian values”. These emphasise the importance of duty
and social harmony over individual rights.

Now, however, the government has formed a coherent ideological strategy in
response to this criticism. China is seeking not merely to resist but to
dismantle a foundational idea of the post-Cold War international order – the
universality of human rights."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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