It’s not enough for Prime Minister Gillard to be silent on China’s treatment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. On behalf of Australia, she should call publicly for Liu’s immediate release and for China to respect the rights and civil liberties of its dissidents, Dr Christopher Michaelsen writes.
Silence is approval in lieu of clear statement of condemnation
By Christopher Michaelsen*
Early in October 2010, the Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. However, there is still no word from the laureate himself and it is unclear whether he is even aware of his achievement.
Liu continues to be imprisoned in China on charges of “incitement to subversion of state power” and “spreading rumours defaming the government” for signing Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reforms and human rights. His trial on 23 December 2009 lasted three hours and his 11-year prison sentence was handed down two days later, on Christmas Day.
Liu’s imprisonment was part of a wider crackdown in China which began in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Since then, the Chinese government has imposed long prison sentences on high-profile dissidents on baseless state secrets or “subversion” charges, expanded restrictions on media and Internet freedom, and tightened controls on lawyers, human rights defenders, and non-governmental organisations.
Since early 2007, Beijing has also broadened controls on Uyghurs and Tibetans; arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances swelled both in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet Autonomous Regions; and the practice of detaining people unlawfully in secret facilities known as “black jails” has continued.
It is thus no surprise that the Chinese government is furious about the Nobel Committee’s decision. China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying had warned earlier that such a move would “pull the wrong strings” in relations between Norway and China, and be regarded as “an unfriendly act”. And indeed, immediately after the Nobel Committee announced its decision on Friday, the Chinese government summoned Norway’s ambassador to Beijing in protest and denounced Liu as a “common criminal”. Meanwhile, Chinese police rounded up dozens of people who were celebrating Liu’s achievement.
World leaders, on the other hand, have praised the brave decision of the independent Nobel Committee. US President Obama and other leaders including German Chancellor Merkel and French Foreign Minister Kouchner immediately issued strong statements calling for Liu’s unconditional release from prison.
In Canberra, however, there was discomforting silence at first. Then, five days later, Prime Minister Gillard cautiously responded to press questions stating that the Australian government had made “representations” to the Chinese government on Liu’s behalf and “welcomed” the fact that his work had been recognised internationally with the Nobel Peace Prize.
There may be a simple explanation for Gillard’s apparent reluctance to join other leaders in demanding Liu’s unconditional release and to put China’s dismal human rights record in the spotlight. China is Australia’s largest trading partner (goods and services) with total trade valued at A$85.1 billion. China is also Australia’s largest merchandise trading partner (valued at A$78.2 billion in 2009) and its largest source of imports. In 2009 alone, total imports from China were valued at A$37.3 billion. Some argue that Australia thus has a vested interest in accommodating Chinese leaders.
However, appeasing Beijing out of concern for economic prospects is based on a flawed assumption that Australian wealth is dependent on China. It is erroneous to suggest that we must forgo our liberal democratic values and principles in order to make money.
As The Australian’s Greg Sheridan has pointed out in the context of the Stern Hu affair earlier this year, the Chinese economy is at least as dependent on Australian commodities as Australia is on Chinese customers. China will buy commodities on the basis of price and reliability. The political dimension makes very little difference to that trade.
In April, then Prime Minister Rudd gave the 70th Morrison Lecture at the Australian National University on “Australia and China in the World”. In that speech, Rudd called for a more balanced, mature and sophisticated approach to China based on a deeper understanding of China. He characterised the relationship as a “true friendship” – based on trust, commitment, and frank dialogue.
True friendship, however, includes an obligation for both partners to be up-front and honest with each other. China deserves praise for its remarkable economic progress which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Yet, as the Nobel Committee has noted, China’s new status as the world’s second largest economy also entails increased responsibility.
The Australian government should remind China about this responsibility. It should demand Liu’s unconditional release from prison and call on the Chinese government to respect the right of all Chinese citizens to exercise their right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 35 of the Chinese constitution.
Prime Minister Gillard should stand firmly by our belief in democracy and human rights for all countries, including China. Such a stance would not only demonstrate true leadership, it would give the Prime Minister some much needed foreign policy profile, too.
Chris Michaelsen is a CLA member and convenor of the International Law and Policy Group and a Senior Research Fellow at the UNSW Law Faculty. Before joining UNSW, he served as a Human Rights Officer (Anti-Terrorism) at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland.
He has previously worked for the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs in New York City, and at the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre of the ANU in Canberra, and has served as a consultant to the Asian Law Group in Semarang, Indonesia, and to the Center for Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation in New York City.
Chris was educated at the University of Munich, the University of Hamburg, the University of Queensland and the Australian National University. His particular areas of interest include Human Rights, Public International Law, Disarmament, Security, Terrorism/Counter-Terrorism, and International Humanitarian Law.This article first appeared in the Canberra Times.