User:Madgirl 15/Sandbox

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This page is about the article Human rights in the People's Republic of China. Please go to that article's talk page and comment there about each of the points exposed here.



  • The Legal System section

The entire section in itself should be expanded. Other statements such as "...this has led to corruption and the abuse of administrative power" would be better if they had citations after them and not before them. I reviewed the link that precedes the sentence [1] but it is once again a 4-page article so it's hard to know where exactly does the person who wrote the part took the statement of "As judges are appointed by the State and the judiciary as a whole does not have its own budget...".

The Chinese government recognizes that there are problems with the current legal system.

Another example is that statement which is backed up by a 26-page document, yet this one starts off by saying "This article represents the views of author alone and does not necessarily represent the position of the Department of Justice or the United States government" [2] . I'm not saying that the document should not be used but other sources could be added.

  • Freedom of speech section

Although the 1982 constitution guarantees freedom of speech,[1] the Chinese government often uses subversion of state power clause to imprison those who are critical of the government.[2] Also, there is very heavy government involvement in the media, with most of the largest media organizations being run directly by the government. Chinese law forbids the advocation of independence or self-determination for territories Beijing considers under its jurisdiction, as well as public challenge to the CCP's monopoly in ruling China. Thus references to democracy, the Free Tibet movement, Taiwan as an independent state, certain religious organizations and anything remotely questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China are banned from use in publications and blocked on the Internet. PRC journalist He Qinglian in her 2004 book Media Control in China[3] examined government controls on the Internet in China[4] and on all media. Her book shows how PRC media controls rely on confidential guidance from the Communist Party propaganda department, intense monitoring, and punishment for violators rather than on pre-publication censorship. Recently, foreign web portals including Microsoft Live Search, Yahoo! Search, and Google Search China[5] have come under criticism for aiding in these practices, including banning the word "Democracy" from its chat-rooms in China. Some North American or European films are not given permission to play in Chinese theatres, although piracy of these movies is widespread.[6]

Perhaps this section is better served with providing a general view on the censorship of the Internet and government control of the media, rather than providing with specific examples. Not everyone is particularly familiar with what the censorship is actually about and the fact that the government is involved with the media. Examples shouldn't be eliminated but perhaps we can re-draft this into two paragraphs that talk about the actual issue and not just with a few examples but maybe a short summary with more examples on the type of information that is censored.

  • Religious Freedom section

The 1982 Constitution technically guarantees its citizens the right to believe in any religion, however this is not to be confused with the general concept of "Freedom of Religion" as is commonly referred to in the West as the right to practice religion in any way you see fit without government interference.[7] This freedom is subject to restrictions, as all religious groups must be registered with the government and are prohibited from having loyalties outside of China. In addition, the communist government continually tries to maintain control over not only religious content, but also leadership choices such as the choosing of bishops and other spiritual leaders. Considering all party leaders must be communist, the ability of such officials to intelligently choose religious leaders is highly questionable. For example, the recently appointed Bishop in China was not appointed by the Pope as has been the Catholic Church's practice up until this time.[8] The government argues that such restriction is necessary to prevent foreign political influence eroding Chinese sovereignty, though groups affected by this deny that they have any desire to interfere in China's political affairs. This has led to an effective prohibition on those religious practices that by definition involve allegiance to a foreign spiritual leader or organization, (e.g. Catholicism - see Catholicism in China) although tacit allegiance to such individuals and bodies inside these groups is not uncommon. "Unregistered religious groups ... experience varying degrees of official interference, harassment, and repression."[9]

Particularly troubling is the lack of transparency involved in recently chosen Tibetan spiritual leaders. China attempts to intervene in the reincarnation of Tibetan spiritual leaders and has indicated it will oversee the search for a new leader after the Dalai Lama passes away. Beijing indicates that spiritual leaders must obtain approval before they reincarnate.[10] Even more troubling is China's dealings with previously identified reincarnations of past leaders. For example, the child who was identified as the new Panchen Lama by Tibetan spiritual leaders was first detained by Chinese authorities and then disappeared. The child has not been seen since, has spent the last 12 years in detention and has effectively been robbed of his childhood. Repeated requests have been made by visitor heads of state, including the Canadian prime minister.[11] Reporters and tourists visiting Tibet note that monasteries are subject to video surveillance. Other examples of the lack of religious freedom are:[12] 1) quotas instituted by Beijing on the number of monks to reduce the spiritual population 2) Forced denunciation of the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader or expulsion 3) Government expulsion from monasteries of unapproved monks 4) Forced recitation of patriotic scripts supporting China or expulsion 5) Restriction of religious study before age 18.
...
Because Chinese House Churches operate outside government regulations and restrictions, their members and leaders are sometimes harassed by local government officials. This persecution may take the form of a prison sentence or, more commonly, reeducation through labour. Heavy fines also are not uncommon, with personal effects being confiscated in lieu of payment if this is refused or unavailable. Unlike Falun Gong, however, house churches have not officially been outlawed, and since the 1990s, there has been increasing official tolerance of house churches. Most observers believe that the harassment of house churches by government officials arises less from an ideological opposition to religion and support of atheism than out of fears of a center of popular mobilization outside the control of the Communist Party of China. [citation needed]

On the first sentence that is in bold, the tone of the sentence does not seem neutral. Perhaps this could be improved by adding a section on 'how differing cultural and religious traditions might have affected the different perspectives on human rights held by Chinese and Western officials' as it was suggested in the peer review. [3] I think it is evident that one of the troubles with the human rights issue and maintaining a neutral tone for this article is that Chinese and Westerns don't have the same perspectives on the issue.

On the second text that is in bold, the entire section reads like a persuasive essay. It states a problem and then uses one example to back up the statement. I believe however that other more pressing issues involving freedom of religion could be mentioned in the article instead of focusing on this single situation of about Tibetan monks. They should be mentioned of course, but perhaps in more detail in the article Religious freedom in the People's Republic of China than here.

The third section needs citations. Also the 'Most observers believe...' sentence does not mention who these observers are.


  • The sections Freedom of movement and Treatment of rural workers deal with the same issue but are divided into two different sections and could be merged instead.