A Dissident Looks at Chinese Repression and the US's Policy Toward China
His name is Harry Wu, and he is a geology professor and human rights activist who was imprisoned for almost 20 years in Chinese prison labor camps (laogai) because he is a Chinese dissident. He has also written a book about those camps.
Here is an interesting interview with Mr. Wu, in which he shares his perspectives on American foreign policy towards China. It's a lengthy article, so I'll just single out three especially interesting segments, with my highlights:
On China in general and investing money in it:
Some believe that investing in trade with China is a way to peacefully and gradually change this totalitarian system. But these people want to dismiss the dark side. They say that the country is changing, so we can stop our containment policy and do something that is good for [China] and good for us. I’m confused by this [notion]. During the Cold War, Western countries boycotted, sanctioned, and isolated the Soviet empire. In the end, we brought down the Berlin Wall. And when we heard about discrimination in South Africa, we boycotted the whole country. Today, Cuba is still under an embargo. I don’t understand why we single out China [for special treatment.] If it were true that money can change the totalitarian regime, I would support that policy. That kind of peaceful evolution is good for everyone. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the case. As we say, “Do you think you can convince a tiger to become a vegetarian?” |
On economic policy:
BH: What do you say to the argument that the benefits of providing Chinese workers the jobs they sorely need outweigh the cost of human rights violations? HW: The question is: What do the Chinese really need? Jobs? Money? Or freedom? If I’m a free man, I can make money. I can find a job. I don’t need the government to feed me. But I don’t have that freedom in China. There are no unions, no strikes. Cheap labor is everywhere—in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Africa. But cheap labor in China is also obedient, so this is a very good place to invest, if you have a good relationship with the government. This is why foreign companies who want to do business in China first seek out high-level government officials to become partners. BH: How does raising the issue of human rights with China affect the cost of labor? Do you believe that foreign corporations avoid the subject of human rights because the cost of labor might go up if they pressured the Chinese government to raise standards? HW: Chinese workers do benefit from foreign businesses, but this is only one side of the story. The other side is that it also benefits the government. Only a part of the profit goes to the people. This is why the Chinese government today has tremendous wealth. In this way, foreign businesses are giving the dying Communist system a blood transfusion. If the Soviets had the same business opportunities with the West as China does today, I don’t think the regime would have collapsed when it did. |
On the roots of American thinking about China, focusing on big names John King Fairbank and Henry Kissinger:
HW: If we really want to understand China and have a good China policy, we have to go back to two people’s ideas. The first is John King Fairbank, the godfather of Sinologists. He understands Chinese history, tradition, culture, and he seemed to believe that communism, while not good for the U.S., may be good for China. Because of his evaluation, many accept that China is the country that it is, and no one talks about democracy, freedom, or equality. The U.S. has only two hundred years of history, while China has thousands. That’s the way they are and nothing can be done about it. Some have the view that Soviet communism is terrible and must be dismantled, but with China they let it be because that’s the way they are. But Fairbank’s [last] book, which he turned in to the publisher but didn’t see in print because he died in the meantime, was published after the Tiananmen Square movement. In it, he had changed some of his earlier ideas, and believed that communism in China was terrible, unacceptable. This was a change that came too late because his earlier views were so influential for so long. The second person’s ideas that have [unfortunately] influenced American thinking about China is Henry Kissinger. Kissinger, the godfather of U.S. policy towards China. He was kind to Chinese dictators. He himself is Jewish and is of course aware of the legacy of the Holocaust, of dictatorships. But he did nothing about Chinese human rights abuses, because he is concerned with strategies of balance. He didn’t care about human rights or democracy. He wanted to use China to balance the Soviet Union, Japan. So Kissinger established good relations with Beijing. |
What do you think, gentle reader?