chris nixon : nixonbyname.com

Apparently today Chinese internet users are saying “enough” to international bullying. Here’s my tuppence worth.

I don’t see any bullying going on. Western governments are doing everything they can to do business with China in the same way that they do with the United States. As a result, there is minimal criticism from the Western regimes.

The Western media is obviously highlighting human right violations. It makes for good news. This however is not bullying or even a criticism of China, simply a criticism of their government’s actions. Charities like Amnesty International are also making the same accusations, so it seems a fair cop to me. Amnesty is also very quick to level criticism at Western governments for their human rights violations so you can be pretty sure there is no bias there. China made some very serious promises to the International Olympics Committee that they would put an end to their human rights violations in order to get the Olympics in Beijing. These promises don’t seem to have been kept.

The other side of this is that a lot of people are accusing these kids of blind nationalism. The thing is that blind nationalism is by no means a trait unique to the Chinese. We in the west are equally of nationalism. It’s a stupid thing, but it’s natural to support “your team.” In the UK we do nothing but bitch and moan about our country until some “johnny foreigner” makes the same accusation. All of a sudden we are patriotic without question.

I think it’s great these kids are proud of their country, but just like the people of any country, they should be under no allusion that they have a responsibility to not let their government get away with committing human rights violations.

I am in no way against China. It’s a country I would love to visit one day. I am however, strongly against torture, capital punishment and organ harvesting. I’m strongly for freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom to practice religious beliefs (as long as that doesn’t harm others). I’m not against China. I wish I could criticise the Chinese government without having to clarify that, just like when I criticise my own government.

Yours Aye.

It’s very easy for me to sit here and write a post about freedom…and that’s the point. Within the reasonable boundaries of the law and my own conscience, I can do, say and believe exactly what I want.

But what if that wasn’t the case. What if I was forced to live in fear for my beliefs? What if telling others the truth could result in jail? What if protesting against such intolerance resulted in torture or death of myself or my family? Could I put up with that? Could you?

There are many people in this world that have to put up with that type of fear every day.

Darfur: This is probably the most serious humanitarian crisis on our planet today. The government backed militia are forcibly displacing their population by killing and raping, and by destroying the villages and homes of the farming populations of the region.

Burma: There have been large pro-democracy protests in Burma over the last few weeks, and the military crack-down, and violent threats against the peaceful protesters have prompted fears of a repeat of the 1988 mass killings of protesters. Since the current protest began, the whereabouts of thousands of monks is unknown. The military government have acknowledged 10 deaths, but many more are feared.

These are just two very well documented worst case examples.

In the last few years many of the freedoms in my country (and yours) have begun to be eroded. Usually in the name of “the war on terrorism”. New crime and public order laws have limited many activities and freedoms that we still assume we have. Freedom of movement, the right to silence, the freedom to protest, and the right to privacy, are gradually being eroded and the over use of surveillance is very apparent.

Now I don’t notice these things every day. I’m a straight and narrow guy. But the fact that I notice means that they are already going too far. I pretty much trust the current government in the UK not to abuse these new powers, but what about the future? What happens when some nutter gets into power? What’s then to stop the UK (or the US, or Australia, or Spain) become the next Yugoslavia?

Since 2001, we have been told that terrorism is the biggest thing to fear, but I’m not sure that’s the case any more. I reckon the erosion of freedom is top of my list.

I don’t wish to belittle the real struggles on our planet. The places where it really has gone wrong. I understand the fear of terrorism, but I just think it’s time to start questioning whether the erosion of our rights is a price we’re willing to pay.

Photo by Jonathan Ward

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