Suchergebnisse

Since small countries like Norway can seldom affect the policies of superpowers, an important question to ask is whether Norway could influence the human right situation in China through dialogue and co-operation? In the West, China has been known for human rights violations exemplified by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. During the first decade of the 21st century the tone has changed, however. While the human right situation is still bad in China, the country has signed and ratified many UN conventions, engaged in human rights dialogues with Norway, Canada and Australia, and slowly increased the civil liberties of its citizens. The Norwegian dialogue with China has taken place on three levels: political consultation, roundtable discussions, and diplomat meetings. L. Pitkaniemi

This article prevents a historical summary of Norway's 1971 role in the normalization of relations between China & Thailand. Norwegian ambassador to Beijing Ole Alegrd met with Thailand's Foreign Affairs Minister Thanat Khoman, who made it known to Alegrdthat Thailand wished to have diplomatic relations with China. Alegrd's performance as diplomatic negotiator in this process is here described by former ambassador Sten Lundbo, who also reveals the effect that the UN General Assembly's resolution to invite China to assume a place in the UN. This development came then as a natural segue to invite China to participate in direct negotiation with Thailand. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were finally established in 1975, thanks largely to the Norway's diplomatic management of the situation, as is described in this article. C. Brunski

Discusses the history and development of democracy and freedom in China from Mao Zedong to Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. During Mao's regime the Chinese people lacked every freedom from travel to the freedom of speech in their own homes, and as late as 1989 the Tiananmen Square protests were brutally ended by the regime. Since then China has freed its economy and by the early 21st century Chinese people enjoy the right to select their local leaders, to live in any community they like, and to communicate freely with each other. However the highest party officials are still above criticism and the media is censored. L. Pitkaniemi

An explanation for why the success of the Communist Party of China (CPC) relies heavily on the middle class and the rational, emotional and national reasons for why their support continues. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) the strong yearly economic growth has lifted 15% (or 200 million people) to the middle class in China, which has become the group that most benefits from the status quo. While only 5.4% of Chinese belong to the CPC in entrepreneurs this percentage rises to 30-60% depending on the region. Thus even if the middle class shows often apathy towards politics, they still employ party membership as a means to success. L. Pitkaniemi

All governments regardless of their form rely ultimately on the legitimacy given by the people. After the rapid economic growth of 21st century China, millions of people have been lifted out of poverty that are eventually going to demand other things from their government as well, such as a better environment and reduced corruption. Legitimacy in China comes from slightly different sources than in the West. Among them are a quasi-religious heavenly mandate and the traditional view of the party as a provider of welfare and safety. However the economic success has not come without a cost. Protests take place throughout the country as the gap between rich and poor has widened, the welfare state has been reduced and farmers lack a basic right to their land. L. Pitkaniemi