Up until recently, its been smooth sailing for China’s ascendency as a major global power. It now runs virtually neck and neck with the U.S. as the top economy in the world, it’s flexing its military muscles in the South China Sea, in Hong Kong and elsewhere like never before and its Belt and Road initiative has spread its influence to virtually every corner of the globe. But things may be changing fast. And it all goes back to what China skeptics and critics haven seen saying for decades: Human rights abuses are rampant and cannot be ignored. And this time they’re pervasive in China’s signature global policy: The Belt and Road initiative.
As previously discussed in this space, the Belt and Road policy is a transportation and infrastructure plan to create an economic and trade network between Asia, Africa and Europe. The plan is building ports, roads, railways and other trace-facilitating infrastructure.
To date, over 140 countries have signed onto the plan across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Central Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
However at its core is a clear attempt to exert greater control over the levers of global commerce and create dependency from those who accept the terms of the CCP’s investment dollars. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S.-based think tank, China has spent some $200 billion on the initiative to date.
Many countries are finding themselves unable to repay the loans and have even tried to renegotiate better terms with American and European bans. If that wasn’t bad enough, a new report has alleged that human rights abuses involving Chinese companies have been widespread since day one.
A newly released report from London-based non-profit organization Business & Human Rights Resource Centre tracked 679 allegations of human rights abuses between 2013 and 2021 linked to the conduct of Chinese businesses abroad. The issues recorded range from land rights, pollution and health, to the rights of indigenous peoples.
The source of the information was local and international NGOs and media reports citing concerns raised by workers, trade unions and local communities across the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa.
Most of the allegations involve projects in metals and mining (35% or 236 allegations), construction (22% or 152 allegations), fossil fuel energy (17% or 118 allegations) and renewable energy (13% or 87 allegations) recorded. As expected, over 80% of the companies invited by the Resource Centre to address human rights allegations made against their overseas operations declined to participate.
Unsurprisingly, the highest rates of alleged abuse occur in countries with weaker governance and where Chinese investments are dominant. These include Myanmar (97 allegations), Peru (60 allegations), Ecuador (39 allegations), Laos (39 allegations), Cambodia (34 allegations) and Indonesia (25 allegations). In all instances, China is the dominant trading partner and largest investor. In short, China is creating dependency and then its companies are committing human rights abuses. This is a far cry from the rhetoric of peace and prosperity that the Belt and Road initiative purported to stand for.
The report calls for Chinese companies to develop better institutional policies on transparency and disclosure about the projects they’re involved with, and even recommends that the Chinese government itself creation a National Action Plan on business and human rights.
These common sense recommendations are hardly earth-shattering ideas. In fact, they’re entrenched in corporate practices and in law in virtually every part of the world. Yet once again, China marches to its own beat and its own rules.
When will someone, somewhere finally stand up and say enough is enough?
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