Many anticipated that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to a Chinese democracy activist. Hu Jia (who has campaigned for AIDS prevention, greater environmental protection, and the rights of peasants whose land was confiscated by the government) and Gao Zhisheng (a trial lawyer who has defended tortured dissidents) appeared almost certain to receive the prize.
These dissidents have been harassed by political authorities for their defense of human dignity, yet they continue to fight, and the world’s most prestigious peace prize would draw greater attention to their causes. Yet it quickly became obvious that such a decision would be politically inconvenient, and, on October 10, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Martti Ahtisaari, a United Nations ambassador.
This unjust snub by the Nobel Committee is just one of many signs of the times that the world is ignoring the great suffering of millions in China because to acknowledge this is politically and economically inconvenient. Statistically, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the most murderous regime in human history. With 60 million deaths on his hands, Mao Zedong is responsible for more human deaths than Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot combined. However, the PRC still tries to convince its
citizens that Mao was a beacon of progress, while continuing his ruthless Marxist policy.
Throughout its history, the PRC has persecuted religious groups and political dissidents, led to what the Dalai Lama XIV has called the “cultural genocide” of the Tibetan people, and administered a cruel population control policy that has led to millions of forced abortions and sterilizations and made infanticide commonplace.
Unfortunately, however, China is a lucrative trading partner for the United States
and the West and reports of Chinese human rights abuses are ignored.
Yet as members of the Creighton community, we must realize that it is our moral responsibility to remember and support those who fight for the recognition of human dignity in China.
As opposed to the Marxist view of the human person, which posits that humans are nothing beyond matter and require nothing more than a non-exploitative labor relationship, the Christian view of the human person is much more complex.
The person is both matter and spirit, and thus interpersonal relationships should be based on an ethical recognition of the universal dignity of human life. Thus it is problematic for Creighton students to support political fireworks such as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which only pump billions of dollars into the Chinese killing machine and give it international legitimization.
We must also hold accountable those who allow the Chinese political machine to expand its oppression, and thus writing a letter to a local member of Congress is a good way to show support for China’s oppressed.
While boycotting Chinese products may seem impossible, attempting to do so is an honorable act. But the best way that Creighton students can say “no” to the PRC is simply by increasing awareness of its oppression and informing their friends and family members.
In a world that turns a blind eye to China’s draconian human rights record, Creighton students should be a sign of contradiction.