385 Georgina Higueras Dissent and Human Rights in China domestic flight. Yang, sentenced in 2004 to five years imprisonment for espionage and illegal entry into China, was released in 2007 and returned to the USA. The pain and the disillusionment that the events of Tiananmen caused the Chinese youth to feel led to thousands of university students starting their professional lives in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Taiwan. Many of them participated, more or less actively, in fora, foundations, NGOs and internet sites that advocated for the defence of human rights, governance and the rule of law in China. When analysing Beijing’s approach to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, we should bear in mind the fact that the Confucian principals, upon which social philosophy stands in China, value the individual as a harmonious part of society to a greater extent than as an individual. Susan Trevaskes, Adjunct Director with the Australian Centre for China in the World, states that both internally and externally, Chinese official line on human rights is based on three pillars11. a) “Non-interference”, a concept that calls for the international community to respect the domestic jurisdiction of each country, especially in relation to sensitive matters such as human rights and ethnic minorities. b) “Mutuality of rights and duties” as established by Article 33 of China’s 1982 Constitution. This article makes rights inseparable from the duties prescribed by the Constitution and other laws. In 2004, the article was revised and the statement that “the state respects and protects human rights” was added, although no further explanations were given. c) “Citizens’ economic and social rights take precedence over their political and civil rights”, in accordance with what was established by the Human Rights White Paper in 1991. This restrictive interpretation of individual freedoms – specifically the freedom of expression and associations – means that in China there is a minority movement in support of human rights constantly at boiling point. The main representatives of this movement are frequently harassed by the authorities and are vulnerable to arbitrary detentions for the mere fact of expressing their opinion in a peaceful manner. In addition, the spectacular economic progress pushed by the government, with the aim of removing “more than 600 million people” 12 from poverty, has opened a chasm between the rich and the poor, infinitely multiplying corruption and tolerating abuses against the most vulnerable groups in society by cold-blooded businessmen, civil 11 See http://www.thechinastory.org/agenda2013/human-rights-and-politics/ Consulted: 17/05/2014 12 LIN, Yifu, China’s potential for sustained dynamic growth, in LEONARD, Mark, CHINA 3.0, European Council on Foreign Relations, p, 53
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