China’s Global War on Human Rights
Dec. 9 (Wall Street Journal/by Jamie F. Metzl): Though China’s rapid rise has had many positive implications, it has also seen Beijing severely undermine the international human rights system. China’s concept of sovereignty stands in sharp contrast to the norms of the postwar human rights system.
Wherever human rights are massively abused today, China is the main protector of the abusing government.
Because China helps protect brutal regimes in exchange for commercial benefits, international efforts to protect human rights generally have no net effect on the abusing regime’s actions. States must choose to stand up for human rights standards—with minimal prospects for success and often to their own strategic detriment—or not. That the latter option is increasingly chosen implicitly confirms that the state-enforced international human rights system is dead.
Full story: http://on.wsj.com/gxI7U4