While South African companies establish themselves in China, they should prioritise upholding human rights in that country, argues Nol van Breda
SOUTH AFRICANS, and in particular the business community, should take stock of the atrocious human rights record of China, one of the permanent members on the United Nations Security Council, just as China is marketing itself in South Africa. Only last week, for example, a China trade fair was held at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town.
The People’s Republic of China is already an important actor on the world stage and its size gives the country considerable weight in the international arena. With 1,2-billion people, or 20% of the world’s population, it has played an increasingly active role with the United Nations since entering it in 1971. From 1982 China has been an active and prominent member of the UN Commission on Human Rights and was vice chair in 1989.
What happens in China is an important measure of the state of human rights internationally. Notwithstanding its seat on the UN Security Council, it has a flagrant disregard for human rights. If it is to assume its full responsibility in the international community, China must accept the greater accountability and openness that comes with that membership.
One could argue whether China should continue to assume that position on the Security Council. In statements at the UN, China has acknowledged that the universal principle of human rights has been widely accepted but nevertheless continues to maintain its position of non-interference in its internal affairs and insists that, as a developing country, its national situation must be taken into account when applying the principle of universality.
Throughout the People’s Republic of China serious human rights violations continue unabated. Thousands of political prisoners are detained simply for expressing their views. People are sentenced to death each year, in their thousands, often for non- violent offences such as corruption, bribery, theft or speaking out against the authorities. Executions are used to cure a host of social ills – and the crimes punishable by death keep rising.
Torture is rife and merciless, and the government denies the allegations outright or fails to provide details about any investigations which may have taken place. Hundreds of thousands of people are detained every year without ever being charged with a crime. And when brought to court, they find that the catch-phrase – “verdict first, trial second” – rings all too true. There are many cases of summary and unfair trials, without safeguards against miscarriages of justice.
Workers who try to organise independent labour groups – only the state-sanctioned union is allowed – have been imprisoned.
Religious freedom has been suppressed and unofficial religious groups who dare to worship have paid for their actions with prison sentences and sometimes their lives. It is the official policy of China to crack down on religious groups which have not been registered officially. In March 1995, a Chinese delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva stated that “hundreds of millions” of people are followers of the five officially recognised religions in China – Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism.
Many religious believers belong to groups which are not recognised by the authorities. Their members are periodically harassed or detained and some of their leaders imprisoned. In the autonomous region of Tibet, monks, nuns and lay people are still imprisoned, and sometimes tortured for peaceful activities such as displaying national flags or shouting pro-independence slogans in public.
Amnesty International has made repeated calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those currently detained for their peaceful religious activities. It has also called on the authorities to repeal or amend legislation which limits the exercise of freedom of religion in China, and to bring the legislation into line with international human rights safeguards.
When the Dalai Lama of Tibet visited South Africa in August, many South Africans heard for the first time the plight of thousands of Tibetan refugees who had to flee their motherland in 1959 due to persecution by the Chinese authorities – a striking resemblance to the scores of South Africans who went into exile during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The Dalai Lama appealed for support from ordinary South Africans for the Tibetan cause during his Desmond Tutu Peace Lecture on 21 August in Cape Town. This noble man has long since realised that governments cannot be trusted or relied upon.
Women have suffered violations of their most fundamental human rights as a result of China’s birth-control policy, which has been compulsory since 1979.
It has been understood that the one-child policy was a desperate measure taken by the world’s most populous nation in order to control population growth. But the brutality with which this policy has been implemented has, in some cases, placed this regime beyond any bounds of civilised values. According to well-documented evidence received by Amnesty International, officials have been required to enter villages, round up all pregnant women into trucks and transport them to centres where they are aborted by doctors. This must count as the most heinous state birth-control on earth.
The harsh reality is that China is an economic power and as it flexes its muscle, both wealthy and poor nations succumb to its bribery. The greater the handout to countries in need of foreign capital which they cannot obtain elsewhere, the easier they befriend mainland China.
Just recently Niger switched its allegiance to China. What will the position be here after 1999 or when the American businesses do not live up to their promises of investment in South Africa?
Will the government succumb to the bribery of China which it so effectively used in France and Germany? Those two countries pushed for a more conciliatory appoach towards China during a UN Commission on Human Rights session in Geneva earlier this year. This followed the recent European Union/Asia summit in Bangkok where lucrative trade deals with China were discussed. The European Union caved in to pressure from the Chinese government not to criticise the country’s human rights record.
Where does all of this leave our fledgling democracy? As South Africa attempts to embrace both Chinas, the situation becomes more sensitive. The South African consul general in Hong Kong has resigned and his deputies have been recalled. In all likelihood the mission in Hong Kong will be downgraded after July 1997 when Hong Kong is transferred to China.
South African customs and excise statistics indicate that the volume of trade between South Africa and the People’s Republic of China increased six-fold since 1990. Already economic relations between the two states are flourishing. South Africa received the “most favoured nation” status when the two countries signed an agreement which gave South Africa immediate access to the Chinese market.
Already 11 South African companies have established offices in China. They are: the Amalgamated Bank of South Africa, Anglo American, De Beers, Gencor, Goldfields, Iscor, Macro Countertrade International, Nedbank, Plascon, Sasol and SA Breweries.
Whereas Amnesty International neither supports nor opposes sanctions against governments which are guilty of human rights violations, and takes no position on punitive measures of any kind, such as sanctions or boycotts, the South African section calls on the 11 South African companies to respect the fundamental human rights of their employees, particularly the right to free speech and association; discuss with the Chinese authorities at all levels the need to introduce safeguards to protect human rights; and raise awareness about basic international human rights standards by distributing human rights information; promoting effective business codes of ethics and supporting human rights education initiatives.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not only addressed to governments – it calls upon “every individual and every organ of society” to “strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.”
All companies have an obligation to promote respect for international human rights standards, and can be encouraged to do so in a variety of ways. It will be interesting to see whether those 11 South African companies will take up the challenge presented to them.
There are various ways in which we can assist them. One is to make them, as well as the potential business people who will be visiting the Trade Expo in Cape Town, aware that the exhibits from more than 100 Chinese companies were made by people who are not working in safe conditions. Amnesty International produced a nine-point programme for companies operating or trading with China. Human rights are everybody’s business.
Similarly, the government must send an unambiguous message to the People’s Republic of China that they have to act in accordance with international human rights laws and conventions.
China has created a sensitive situation for South Africa. Recently representatives of the People’s Republic of China’s foreign ministry indicated the unacceptability of President Nelson Mandela’s position of recognising Taiwan at the same time as attempting to open diplomatic relations with the mainland. Mandela inherited diplomatic relations with Taipei from the previous regime. Beijing refuses to recognise any country that has ties with the “renegade province”. South Africa was refused permission to establish a fully fledged consulate in Beijing.
This should not leave South Africa with choices; when it rejoined the international community, expectations were high that it would provide leadership, particularly on human rights.
In 1997 South Africa may become a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights and now, already, must display its commitment to human rights and call for international scrutiny of the human rights situation in China and consider the recommendations made by Amnesty International to UN member states.
Amnesty International launched a world-wide campaign to focus on human rights in China. This has been the movement’s biggest country campaign to date. Amnesty International’s more than one-million members throughout the world, including the South African membership, have campaigned relentlessly since its secretary general, Pierre Sane, launched the campaign in Bangkok, where he narrowly escaped arrest by security officials.
— Nol van Breda is the national chairperson of Amnesty International South Africa
ENDS