New thinking on human rights cooperation
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Western mainstream media and think tanks applauded the Chinese government's determination and efficiency in evacuating its citizens from Libya when civil strife recently broke out. This can be interpreted as an indirect and unintentional recognition of Chinese government's achievement in protecting the human rights of Chinese people by the West. This is significant, not only because it shows what kind of new efforts China has made for its people, but also because it triggers an inquiry into what kind of new thinking the West and China can adopt in their human rights dialogue.
Obviously, the first point for the West and China in their discussion of human rights should be both sides recognizing each other's progress rather than pointing out each other's problems. But if they only focus on each other's flaws, they then risk neglecting the successes and goodwill efforts of each other in protecting and improving human rights, which will hinder the buildup of mutual trust and cooperation. However, if both sides broaden their vision regarding each other's human rights achievements, they can deepen mutual understanding of relevant issues and find common ground for bilateral cooperation.
As for recognition, the West should pay more attention to the human rights implications of China's cancellation of the death penalty for 13 crimes and the regulation of "Demolition with Administrative Coercion" earlier this year. Correspondently, more China should offer more recognition of President Obama's recent efforts in improving American human rights in the areas of health care and education. This could substantially balance the negative atmosphere of human rights dialogues and eventually lead to more positive and constructive cooperation.
Secondly, both sides must not only eliminate Cold War mentalities, impatient and arrogant attitudes, biased and oversimplified judgments, and radical rhetoric, but also re-identify shared values and different preferences in the realm of human rights. To this end, they should understand each other's concepts of human rights within historical and cultural context, and should communicate with each other patiently and respectively.
The two international human rights treaties and other human rights agreements of the United Nations could serve as a good starting point for renewed dialogue. However, all human rights values and principles are built upon and evolve with the social, political, and economic development of societies. They have to be in turn codified as laws in accordance with cultural and historical specificities. For example, Western liberal traditions emphasize the equality and integrity of the rights of the individual, while Chinese Confucian traditions prioritize social stability and justice. Accordingly, although the notorious shooting incident by a political extremist in Arizona earlier this year was unanimously condemned by the American public, it is still difficult and extremely controversial to change the individual's right to possess firearms in the United States, which is protected by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. On the contrary, it has been debated in recent years in China whether policemen should be equipped with guns routinely, due to the conflict between protecting the safety of individual policemen and the potential danger to public security. The strict gun control regulation in China reflects Chinese traditions of prioritizing collective human rights over individual human rights.
