The pretense of human rights in China

For those of you interested in the current issues of human rights in China, this article from the Christian Science Monitor is highly recommended.

It mentions the Communist Party of China might take a lighter stance and alleviate human suppression as Beijing embraces the 2008 Olympic. Somehow I doubt this would happen because if they make exception then people could see this as a chance to soften up the regime and an excuse for future fights to topple corruption, suppression and even the regime in China.

Here, it talks about the role the high-tech company plays in the imprisonment of dissidents:

The role of overseas Internet companies in complying with Chinese police seized the moral imagination of the US Congress in hearings last week. The most serious cases relate to Yahoo's help in helping identify and convict journalist Shi Tao to 10 years in jail. Two weeks ago, a new case appeared to put Yahoo in cahoots with state security forces regarding Li Zhi, who got eight years in jail for trying to query and join a democracy group from his home in Sichuan.

And even the journalists reporting on corruption have had their jobs stripped away:

Since December, the editor of a relatively feisty new tabloid, Beijing News, was fired after stories on why it took 11 days for Chinese officials to acknowledge a major benzene spill in a river flowing through northeast China to Russia. The firing hit the staff hard, bringing one of the first collective protests in memory at a state-run media outlet.

Last week, Chen Jieren, editor of the small Public Interest Times, was sacked. he went public this week in a 10,000-word essay after his employer said he was fired for poor management skills. Chen said he was ousted over stories investigating corruption, among others. The journal aimed to "report the truth with a conscience," he wrote.

These examples further demonstrate the suppression of ideologies, freedom of press and rights under the communist regime.

So, will we see an alleviation of human suppression and corruption in China as Beijing 2008 approaches? Maybe, but it will only be a show to ease the criticism from western media and politicians. I bet you that the suppression would resume right after 2008 Olympic ends.

Not only are the people suffering, animals also take a beating. Here's my previous post on that issue.