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The Dark Side of China CGG3O Pollution • Air pollution is a huge problem is China’s cities – China’s massive (and still growing) energy needs are fueled primarily by coal • Water pollution is a major issue in China’s rivers and lakes – Factories and farms dump waste into rivers and lakes with few repercussions • Together they cause well over a million deaths a year Tibet • We’ve already discussed the issue with Tibet – It’s people feel it was invaded and forcefully absorbed by China in the 1950s – Buddhist monks are oppressed, have their freedom of expression and movement supressed – Large numbers of monks have been killed or arrested Other oppressed groups • Uighers (Chinese Muslims) • Falun Gong practitioners • Christians who practice outside of statesanctioned churches • These people are subject to arrest, torture, indefinite imprisonment, and execution Freedom of Speech • Press is tightly controlled by the government – they are told what to say and deviance brings serious consequences • The internet is severely filtered by the “Great Firewall of China” • The government tracks down and arrests people based on internet communications concerning democracy and human rights The ICCPR • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a UN human rights treaty • China signed it in 1998 Key Provisions • The right to life and freedom from torture and slavery • Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention and the right to habeas corpus • The right to due process, a fair and impartial trial, and the presumption of innocence • Freedoms of movement, thought, conscience and religion, speech, association and assembly, family rights, the right to a nationality, and the right to privacy • prohibition of any propaganda for war as well as any advocacy of national or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence by law • Political participation, including the right to join a political party and the right to vote • Non-discrimination, minority rights and equality before the law China and the ICCPR • Which provisions has China violated? – Tibet – Falun Gong – Human Rights activists – Media and internet censorship