Despite changes, many still wary of China’s past

In the last decade, changes have been made in China in policy and practices affecting both trade and citizens’ rights. As a result, the new look of one of the world’s most powerful nations has caught the attention of businesses worldwide.

However, the People’s Republic of China has been guilty of a number of human rights violations in the past – a fact not forgotten by the global community. A 2003 U.S. State Department report on China’s progress in human rights cited numerous abuses, and said the government’s record remained “poor.”

Despite this, the United States and other countries remain active traders with the Asian superpower, and multinational corporations still see China as a profitable place to do business.

More relaxed, but not capitalist

Though many are quick to call China’s new economic system “capitalist,” Richard H. Pettway, a professor at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, said the statement may be incorrect. Pettway said the word “capitalism” carries a negative political connotation across the globe.

“It looks like capitalism,” Pettway said of China’s economy, “but at the present time that word is still not the preferred word by the CP – the Communist Party.”

Pettway, who has been traveling to China since 1976, said the term capitalism is too simplistic, noting that he prefers defining it as China’s “openness to relaxing of controls of businesses.”

China has gained a great deal credibility within the international community since it took the initiative to gain admittance into the World Trade Organization, he said.

In terms of social progress in China, Pettway, who was a member of the nation’s Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1982, said he feels it’s important to think about progress in terms of time.

“There hasn’t been a Tiananmen incident in recent days,” he said, referring to the 1989 incident where possibly thousands of students and protesters were killed.

Freedom of expression – work in progress

While the violent Tiananmen Square incident is often recalled, many organizations focus their grievances with China on the right to freedom.

Despite changes in its economy, China remains a socialist state under the rule of the Communist Party, which severely restricts freedom of expression. China remains under fire from foreign governments, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The rise of the Internet is a prime example of the delicate balance of embracing financial opportunities while maintaining censorship within China.

Content on the Internet is routinely censored for Web users in mainland China, and the government even requires companies such as Yahoo to censor search results for specific searches. Yahoo’s competitor, Google, went as far as to remove Web sites from its search results that are inaccessible within China.

The type of information that is typically censored includes criticism of the government and references to democracy or the independent state of Taiwan.

Still, changes have been made, and the Communist Party has placed more faith in its citizens. Now, people are allowed to own shares in state-owned enterprises and the outlook is brighter, with dramatic economic growth and increased opportunity within Chinese society.

Pettway noted that entrepreneurship, wealth, job opportunities and national GDP have all grown since China adopted its new economic policies.

“I think that reforms have been moving along,” he said.

With the summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, the new China will take the spotlight and likely spur international debate over its human rights policies.

“New,” indeed. But whether it has “improved” will be the topic for discussion.