Maravi

(HERALD) West are hypocrites: China

West are hypocrites: China
Saturday, 10 December 2011 23:10
By Nomsa Nkala in Beijing, China

China has accused the West of hypocrisy and attempting to impose — on the developing world — its lifestyles and methods as universal yardsticks for human rights and democracy.

The criticism comes a few months after British Prime Minister David Cameron came under a barrage of attacks from African countries for trying to force gay rights on the continent in exchange for donor funds. The British premier had threatened to slash aid to African countries with poor records on gay rights, claiming homosexuality was a modern way of life.

However, most countries on the continent resisted the move, saying they would not sacrifice their values for money. In the latest attack, a senior official in the Chinese Information Office of the State Council, Ms Yoa Junmei, told Zimbabwean journalists here early last week that big powers had a hypocritical approach towards human rights issues and democracy.

“Countries that support US policies are considered democratic while those opposed to them are autocratic. Again, what is considered to be upholding human rights is adhering to their policies and if your views are on the contrary you are accused of violating those rights.

“. . . Western countries do not have the sole responsibility of defining what human rights are and what are not. Their problem is that they want to tell others what to do and they want their way of living to be the model for human rights. To me, that is actually violating the so-called rights they are claiming to promote.”

China has often been labelled a country with a poor human rights record. One of the reasons proffered for that tag is its Family Planning Policy that encourages couples to have at least one child, a move designed to slow down the once ballooning population.

Under the policy, couples are rewarded for having smaller families while those with more children are fined amounts ranging between 800 and 2 000 yuan or even more.
Defending her country’s position, Ms Yoa said the China’s so-called poor human rights record was a creation of the Western media.

She said if her country had not adopted the Family Planning Policy, its population would have swelled to 1,7 billion instead of 1,3 billion as it was growing at an average rate of 5,8 children per mother.

The policy has reduced the average birth rate per mother to 1,8 children. The average life expectancy in China has also gone up from the mid-40s to 73 years.

“The decision to adopt the policy was an inevitable one and quite progressive. Our population was growing in large numbers and, with limited resources, how on earth was China supposed to cloth and feed those children?

“We had to go against the beliefs of our ancestors (of having many children) and adopt the Family Planning Policy so as to try and eradicate poverty and promote higher standards of living.

“This was a human rights issue; what greater human rights than to enable 20 percent of the world’s population to live better lives. That’s exactly what China has done. Countries develop different standards of human rights in different ways.

“Human rights are, therefore, practised and promoted in different ways the world over according to local realities. Characteristics of the locality need to be applied to the universal concept of human rights.”

Ms Yoa said the rights to freedom of expression, information and monitoring government performance were enshrined in the country’s constitution.

China has also reiterated that it respects the political choices of individual African countries. Its policy on the continent remains deeply embedded on mutual benefits, equality and principles of peaceful co-existence.

In an interview, the Chief Director of the Information Office of State Council, Mr Hu Kai Hong, said — in his view — his country’s policy on Africa remained guided by the five principles of peaceful co-existence.

China and Africa share similar historical experiences on the struggle for liberation and this background has cemented their close ties.

Explaining the policy on Africa in its charter, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry states that Sino-Africa relations are embedded in the long history of interchange.
Bilateral trade and economic co-operation between the two have grown rapidly while co-operation in other fields has yielded good results.

Co-ordination in international affairs has also been intensified. On its overall foreign policy, China says it follows a path of peaceful development and pursues an independent foreign policy of peace.

It also stands ready to develop friendship and co-operation with all countries on the basis of the five principles of co-existence so as to contribute to peace, stability and common prosperity around the world.

And on the specifics of its relations with Africa, China says it has provided assistance to the continent to the best of its ability and has also received reciprocal support from the continent on many occasions.

“The Chinese government will adopt more effective measures to facilitate African commodities’ access to the Chinese market to fulfil its promise to grant duty-free treatment for some goods from the least developed African countries with the view of expanding and balancing bilateral trade and optimising trade structures.”

On investment, the Oriental giant says it encourages and supports Chinese enterprise investment and business in Africa and will continue to provide preferential loans and buyer credits to this end.

The government is also ready to explore new channels and ways of promoting investment co-operation with African countries. The policy also specifies co-operation between Africa and China in the military, health and media spheres, among other areas.

It is in accordance with its foreign policy that China has, over the years, hosted media and information personnel from various African countries.

Mr Hu said China has, for years, been opening up its media and currently has between 700 and 800 foreign journalists resident in the country.

He said the government fully promoted Press freedom, which is why people could criticise it even through the Internet.

He said journalists operating in the country were, however, expected to abide by the specified rules and regulations and also report responsibly.

China has more than 8 000 magazines, 2 000 newspapers and 374 television stations. However, the country has often been accused of strongly censoring the media and restricting access to information, especially regarding the use of the Internet.

Explaining that intervention, Ms Yoa said the Chinese government at times restricted the use of the Internet to promote national development and create a healthy environment. She said the practice was aimed at preventing fraudulent information being passed online.

Ms Yoa said of priority in the country’s five and 10-year plans on human rights were the rights to information, freedom of expression and monitoring government’s performance.

Labels: CHINA, CONSERVATIVES, HOMOSEXUALITY, HUMAN RIGHTS

posted by MrK @ 6:53 PM