Keeping it Real…

China’s leaders are hard-nosed, cruel dictators, who regularly trample on basic human rights: no doubt about it. 

 And it has always amazed me how, until the uprisings in Tibet, the world has said so little and done even less to protest or really  pressure the Chinese government to become a true “people’s republic” and not just another tyranny, where power is held at the point of a gun … with the help of fascistic laws, corrupt courts, widespread censorship and, when needed, even the use of troops and tanks to keep its own people in line.

In February, the U.S. based Human Rights in China organization reported that, contrary to promises China made when lobbying to get the Summer Olympics, human rights in China had actually worsened as the games grows nearer. Restrictions on freedom of expression have increased, and so has the detention and harrassment of human rights activists.

Last October, six Chinese lawyers who had the audacity to defend Falun Gong adherents’ in court, were themsleves set upon, beaten, arrested and threatened with prosecution and disbarrment. And these are not just idle threats: in 2005 lawyer Guo Guoting of Shanghai, was indeed disbarred after he defended Falun Gong followers. 

Executions in China are carried out by the thousands each year, many without fair trials, and then, body organs of those killed are reportedly quickly harvested (without the victims’ prior consent or that of their families) and sold to wealthy potential recipients.

In Sudan, in return for oil supplies, China not only backs and subsidizes a government  accused of being complict in the murder of tens of thousands of Darfur refugees, but has also supplied the guns and munitions used to do it. (By the way, where is the “left” on this one! Imagine the protests if the U.S. was doing this!)

And there is now documented evidence that the Chinese has also assisted Iran in its pursuit of nuclear power. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people could be at stake on this one!

Yes, the government of China is truly an evil entity, and ironically it is growing stronger and more powerful every day on the World stage because WE are helping to fund its economic success.

It is hard to believe, in the face of all this, that the U.S. has still awarded China “most favored nation” trading status … opening its doors as wide as possible to the dictatorship’s output.

In fact, in 2007, China dumped Canada as the Number One exporter to the United States: shipping goods worth $321 Billion U.S. into that country (compared with Canada’s exports to the U.S. totalling $313 Billion). And China’s trade surplus with America topped $46 Billion … a very nice profit for the Communist nation! 

The truth is Canada, the U.S. and other Western countries (and we as consumers) have been complicit in aiding and abetting China’s human rights abuses, censorship, corruption, its cruelty to its own people and the totally conscience-free greedy stances it takes elsewhere in the world.

It’s time we put pressure on China to join the civilized world: if it wants to sell its goods to the West, it MUST be forced to respect basic human rights and act in a civilized way towards its own people and on the world stage.

The answer is not an Olympic boycott … a one-shot move that would hurt so many athletes who have trained for years, and wouldn’t really do much to change the Chinese government’s policies or actions in the long term.

No .. not a total boycott.  

BUT,  Prime Minister Harper and other world leaders SHOULD stay away from the Opening Ceremonies … as a protest move: sending only minor officials, if anyone, to represent their countries.

And every civilized country should start closing its doors to Chinese goods … slowly at first, but steadily increasing the withdrawal of its export markets… until it respects basic human rights within its own borders and outside as well. ( And discount shoppers, have no fear: there are other countries like Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and India ready, willing and able to fill the cheap-goods void.)

But I believe widespread economic pressure would work …. and how ironic, by hitting the Communists where it hurts, in their capitalist pockets.  It WILL indeed lead them to respond … just like any major retailer does, in the face of adverse publicity about its treatment of workers, the environment, and the rest of the world.

Pass this on … and join the boycott.   Choose goods from other countries … and also you can even write the Prime Minister ( pm@pm.gc.ca ) to encourage our government to start turning off the tap of Chinese goods flooding our stores.

You will feel better for it ( I do!) and you will help bring about the real liberation of the people of China.

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