Hypocrisy Hangs Over China Furor
by Phil Tajitsu Nash

With the Soviet Union no longer around to be what Ronald Reagan called “the Evil Empire,” China has emerged as the Congress’ global problem du jour -- one that America loves to rail against for alleged espionage, human rights abuses and other bad behavior that somehow doesn’t elicit much rage if perpetrated by our allies or by us.

Lax security that led to alleged stealing of nuclear secrets by China have given Republicans a club with which to hit the Clinton administration, Chinese, Asians and, by extension, Asian Americans. Add to that the objections to human rights abuses in Tibet or in Tienanmen Square, often raised by those who would discourage wider trade with China.

That’s not to say that real human rights abuses have not occurred in Tibet or Tiananmen Square. But the issues raised to public prominence are those that fit into a paradigm that is comfortable for those currently wielding power. That might be one reason we haven’t heard much about the Hollywood 10, a group of movie directors and screenwriters who stood up to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1940s. Those of us serious about commemorating the free-speech rights that protesters fought for on June 4, 1989 might also use the anniversary to remember those in our own country who faced not only fines and jail time, but blacklisting from their professions.

If the Hollywood Ten situation seems too tangential, consider that in Washington, politicians have perfected the art of steering conversations their way. Take the two hearings on Chinese human rights that the House Committee on International Relations has held recently. On Jan. 13, the committee heard from a panel of international human rights advocates; State Department officials Harold Hongju Koh and Susan Shirk were present as representatives of the Clinton Administration. On March 8, the committee held a hearing titled “U.S. Policy Considerations on the Fortieth Anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising and the Dalai Lama’s Flight into Exile.” Witnesses included Lodi Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama, as well as representatives of the State Department, the CIA and the Tibet Information Network in London. At neither hearing was a representative of China present.

While I was not able to attend them either, any committee staffer can tell you that the outcome of a hearing often can be foretold by the positions of those invited to speak. No matter where you stand on the Tibet issue, take a look at the presenters lined up on March 8, and you can get a sense of the outcome of the hearing.

Such image manipulation, coupled with arrogance, wins a country few friends on the global front. China has capitalized on the mistaken NATO bombing as proof of how the United States throws its weight around -- a perception that infuriates foreign governments around the world. Yet lawmakers here continue to put forth resolutions that tell other nations what to do: Resolutions in the House and Senate both call for China to stop human rights abuses there and in Tibet, and a bill from Sen. Daniel Moynihan calls for the Senate to denounce Choephel’s sentence.

Again, I’m not saying that Congress should stop protesting human rights violations. Far from it. I would like to see more denunciations of, for example, those who committed genocide against the indigenous people of Guatemala over the past 40 years. In addition, I would like to see those so concerned about human rights abuses in China, including Asian Americans, become more involved in protesting the unfair and unequal treatment accorded to refugees in Africa and other parts of the world.

A report in the May 22 Times comparing European and African refugee camps found, for example, that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is spending about 11 cents per day per refugee in Africa. In the Balkans, the figure is $1.23 per refugee per day, or more than 10 times greater. Some African refugee camps have one doctor for every 100,000 refugees, while Macedonian camps have as many as one doctor per 700 refugees. CARE camp manager Bob Allen was quoted in news reports as saying: “You’ve got to maintain people’s dignity. The life in Africa is far more simple. To maintain the dignity and lifestyle of Europeans is far more difficult.”

While personal perspective naturally serves as a prism as we look at world events, we cannot arbitrarily mandate higher standards for us or those who look like us. That, too, would be contrary to human rights.