By Zofia Joynt, First Place winner of the 2024 Human Rights Essay Contest – Graduate Division
In Centessimus Annus, Pope Saint John Paul II stakes out the origin point of communist ideology, saying, “Thus, the root of modern totalitarianism is to be found in the denial of the transcendent dignity of the human person who, as the visible image of the invisible God, is therefore by his very nature the subject of rights which no one may violate — no individual, group, class, nation or State.” The human dignity of those who live under the Chinese Communist Party is being compromised, and the rights to which they are entitled by virtue of being human are quashed. This violence to the human person reverberates throughout the world, in seen and unseen ways. The United States cannot be naive when it comes to this issue, and must be leaders in promoting these rights in China.
If I were appointed U.S. Secretary of State, the first thing that I would do is advocate for the immediate release of political prisoners in China and advise the President to put effort into promoting human rights and setting an example for the world on how to interact with dictators. I would remind the President of individual people who are currently being held in prison, such as Jimmy Lai, and also groups of persecuted people, such as the Uyghurs, Catholic bishops, members of Falun Gong, and defenders of human rights who are targeted because of their work. Remembering these people is the first step to advocacy and change.
Jimmy Lai has been in jail for nearly four and a half years, on trumped up charges of Embezzlement & Fraud, Illegal Assembly, Treason, and Sedition. Jimmy Lai escaped mainland China as a child and fled to Hong Kong after his family lost everything as a result of the Chinese Communist Party. By sheer will and entrepreneurship, he became a successful businessman in the clothing industry and is credited with the creation of “fast fashion”. In response to the Tiananmen Square protests and in an effort to join the movement, he founded a magazine (Next) and a newspaper (Apple Daily) that advocated for freedom in Hong Kong. This put him on the radar of the Chinese Communist Party, and Lai was arrested at his place of work and perp-walked in front of employees to a police car. Much of the last four and a half years has been in solitary confinement, a practice which many consider to be a form of torture. He is seventy-six years old. Jimmy Lai is a devout Catholic and has been separated from Mass and the Eucharist. Jimmy Lai created religious art from his jail cell until even his supplies were taken from him.
I would urge the President to mention these people and groups during meetings with China’s leadership, to support advocacy efforts on all levels, and to use his position to talk about how human rights around the globe is important for everyone. We are not isolated beings. Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti that we must “…rediscover our vocation as citizens of our respective nations and of the entire world, builders of a new social bond. This summons is ever new, yet it is grounded in a fundamental law of our being: we are called to direct society to the pursuit of the common good and, with this purpose in mind, to persevere in consolidating its political and social order, its fabric of relations, its human goals…the existence of each and every individual is deeply tied to that of others… Evil tends to spread, and injustice leaches and has rippling affects throughout the world.
The U.S. Secretary of State frequently attends meetings at the U.N. and is the chief representative of the United States in matters of international affairs. As Secretary of State, in my appearances at the UN, I would strive to speak about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and human rights crises as often as possible. China has an increased presence at the UN Human Rights Council (as well as the UN Security Council), which should raise eyebrows. The Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated the UN Human Rights Council in an attempt to distract the world that is watching and to grasp control of yet another world entity. United States Representative Chris Smith, a promoter of human rights, said in a Subcommittee Hearing, “The Chinese Communist Party blatantly uses its position on the UN Human Rights Council to shield itself from the criticism and to avoid accountability for its horrific human rights abuses.” The Secretary of State should take every opportunity to show that the U.S. is watching with criticism and concern towards countries that claim to be dedicated to the tenets of human rights and peace, but continue to disregard their own actions.
One of the most horrifying contradictions to international human rights and China’s presence in the UN Human Rights Council is the genocide being carried out on the Uyghur population, a Turkic ethnic group located in the Xingjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. China blatantly disregards human rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Xinjiang Party Committee launched what they called Counterterrorism Strike Hard Campaign in Xinjiang, in 2014. Between 2014 and 2017, up to 1 million people were sent to re-education camps. This expanded in 2017 to a larger campaign that implemented forced sterilization, forced labor, and more intense indoctrination. There should be sanctions imposed on officials responsible for these human rights violations.
I do not believe that scrutiny and criticism will be enough, but given that the US is one of China’s largest trade partners, pressure from the US is worth something. While we depend on China for many products, there is power in being a consumer. The US must continue the good work that was started by the signing of the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” which banned all goods from the Xinjiang region unless the factories could prove that they were not made using forced labor. Violators are still finding loopholes, so the efforts to block the importation of products made with exploited labor need to be diligently continued. We should be pushing China towards better policies by our continued demands for truthful audits, refusing entry of goods into the US if the sources are or appear to be suspicious, and supporting those who fight for human rights.
Perhaps with time and pressure, policy changes that produce change across the whole country could be instituted, but concentrated efforts in advocating for the freedom of one person often bring vast networks of evil to light. In the case of Jimmy Lai, who continues to suffer in a Chinese prison, the movement to free him is ongoing and has turned much attention towards not only him and his story, but also on the system that oppresses him and the Chinese people. Chen Guangcheng, the “Barefoot Lawyer” and internationally recognized champion of human rights, often reminds people that the Chinese Communist Party is not the Chinese people. Guangcheng said, “The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] is an enemy of humanity. It is terrorizing its own people and it is threatening the well-being of the world. . . The United States must use its values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law to gather a coalition of other democracies to stop Chinese Communist Party’s aggression.”
When speaking about these issues, it is always important to differentiate between the aggressors and those who are being repressed. Chinese citizens are living under tyranny and suffering severe abuses to their indelible human rights- to life, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to freedom of movement within their country, to freedom from arbitrary arrest and interference to family life and freedom from slavery, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The way that the President of the United States communicates with China is important. He must speak decisively and be aware that the Chinese Communist Party likely does not empathize with gentle negotiations and subtle suggestions, and will take advantage of weaknesses. As Communists, their value is completely on control. All leaders who deal with the CCP through politics, economics, or foreign policy must educate themselves on what the Chinese Communist Party does and how. They should observe how the CCP treats citizens in their own country and neighboring countries and be under no false assumptions that, given the opportunity, the US would be treated differently. We have to use the leverage we have to further the goal of protecting human rights, which is ultimately to the benefit of all countries. My advice as US Secretary of State to the President would be to speak decisively and with power and to remember that we are citizens not simply of the US, but rather of the whole world.
The Chinese Communist Party is a threat not only to its citizens but to the world. The President should be advised by the US Secretary of State to be forthcoming and persistent in establishing a precedent of protecting human rights and human dignity, and unapologetic in calling out the poor behavior of countries that do not.