Human Rights and Hypocrisy

Perhaps the only thing more irritating than stupid politics is hypocritical politics. I shall illustrate with an example.

Last week, the Harper government made a really big deal of announcing that in response to the recent military junta in Burma, Canada would be imposing “the toughest sanctions in the world.” These sanctions are being justified on moral grounds, because according to Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, “[T]he regime in Burma is abhorrent to Canadian values.” Canada’s response includes the use of the Special Economic Measures Act, which will:

• ban all goods exported from Canada to Burma, excepting only the export of humanitarian goods
• ban all goods imported from Burma into Canada
• freeze assets in Canada of any designated Burmese nationals connected with the Burmese State
• prohibit the provision of Canadian financial services to and from Burma
• prohibit the export of any technical data to Burma
• ban new investment in Burma by Canadian persons and companies
• prohibit Canadian-registered ships or aircraft from docking or landing in Burma
• prohibit Burmese-registered ships or aircraft from docking or landing in Canada and passing through Canada.

What a load of crap. These sanctions are a pathetic attempt at feel-good optics for the Conservatives. Canada and Burma have a completely insignificant trade relationship, so these measures are nothing more than a lot of hot air. If the Canadian government truly had a moral interest in international human rights then why is China our second-largest trading partner? China’s record of human rights abuses is at least as (if not more?) morally reprehensible than Burma’s.

According to a U.S. Department of State Fact Sheet, common abuses of rights include:
Arbitrary and lengthy incommunicado detention, forced confession, torture, and mistreatment of prisoners as well as severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, and worker rights, and coercive birth limitation. In 2005, China stepped up monitoring, harassment, intimidation, and arrest of journalists, Internet writers, defense lawyers, religious activists, and political dissidents. The activities of NGOs, especially those relating to the rule of law and expansion of judicial review, have been curtailed. In recent years, China has passed new criminal and civil laws that provide additional safeguards to citizens, but previously debated political and legal reforms--including expanding elections to the township level and reform of the reeducation through labor system--have been put on hold.

Not to compare atrocities (certainly the current military junta in Burma is just the most recent chapter of the very long story of oppression in that country) but clearly for millions and millions of Chinese people the situation is quite dire.

Here’s the thing. I’m not an activist, and I’m not saying that Canada should necessarily cut ties with China. What I am saying is that Harper’s big show against human rights abuses in Burma is little more than a cheap attempt at looking like one of the good guys.