week 7

Question 1

Until second world war the protection of rights was

Answer 1

seen as a sovereign prerogative of state and not an
international concern

Question 2

Globalization of human rights began after WWII

Answer 2

Individuals should not be left at the mercy of a domestic legal system and more protection should be afforded to individuals when states tend to abuse their rights

Question 3

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Answer 3

member states of the United Nations subscribe to.
– Its preamble presented itself as ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations.
– starting point of universality of rights
– defines human rights as universal, inalienable
and indivisible

Question 4

UDHR Article 1

Answer 4

says ‘that all human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights

Question 5

UHDR universality of human rights

Answer 5

means that human rights apply to every single person by virtue of their humanity; it applies to everyone equally, for everyone is equal in simply being human

Question 6

Indivisible

Answer 6

rights are interrelated and interdependent, no right is to be considered more important than another

Question 6

Inalienable

Answer 6

it is impossible for anyone to abdicate his/her human rights or deprive of these rights

Question 7

Bangkok Declaration

Answer 7

Asian group of nations opposed what they saw as Western imperialism and urged the international community to take into account their cultural differences as regard to human rights

Question 7

1993 UN Conference of Human Rights

Answer 7

a delegation led by China, Syria, and Iran officially challenged the universality of Human Rights
– human rights as currently defined are not universal but based on Western morality; that human rights should not therefore be imposed as norms on non-western societies in disregard of those societies’ historical and economic development and in disregard of their cultural differences and perceptions of what is right and wrong and that the imposition of one’s standard on another culture is unjust and imperialist in
nature

Question 8

Tunis Declaration

Answer 8

African groups while admitting the universality of human rights declared that ‘no ready-made model can be prescribed at the universal level since the historical and cultural realities of each nation and the traditions, standards and values of each people cannot be disregarded’ (Report on the Regional Meeting for Africa of the World Conference on Human Rights 1992).
– “Different societies throw up different systems of moral beliefs depending on such things as their history, traditions, geographical circumstances, and views of the world; we have no means of judging them for there are no objective and universal criteria available for the purpose, and even if there were, we would be too deeply conditioned by our own society to discover them

Question 9

Western Thought

Answer 9

Argued that ‘if cultural tradition alone governs state compliance with international standards, the widespread disregard, abuse, and violation of human rights would be given legitimacy

Question 10

Human Rights in China

Answer 10

The practices outlawed by UDHR, such as slavery, torture, and arbitrary arrest, are commonly found in China
- China has the highest number of reported executions of any country

Question 11

China abstained from signing AU-UN hybrid operation & passively supports

Answer 11

– Sale of arms
– Active support for abuses
– Commission of abuses by Chinese agents
– Massacre, torture, slave labor in support of economic enterprises
– Shielding an abusive government
– Veto in UN

Question 12

China’s labour practices and poor working conditions have ignored

Answer 12

the human rights of African citizens
have been a source of concern

Question 13

Examples of human rights abuses by China in Africa

Answer 13

the issue of the Zambian Copper Mine has been pointed. The Chambishi Copper Mine, in the heart of Zambia’s copper belt, had been closed for more than a decade when the China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporation (CNMC) bought 85 percent of the mine in 1998 for $20 million (Brautigam 2009). The project was hailed as a prime example of how foreign investment can bring jobs and new technologies to Africa.
● Then, in April 2005, an explosion at the mine killed fifty-one Zambian workers due to poor safety
standards.
● A year later, after the Chinese had banned union activity and began paying Zambian employees
less than the $67-a-month minimum wage, six Zambian workers were shot at a labour demonstration by a Chinese supervisor.
● In Namibia, South Africa and Zambia it was found that Chinese managers repeatedly ignore local minimum wage laws and affirmative action requirements, while refusing to pay social security and allowances (Jauch and Sakaria 2009

Question 14

For China, freedom starts with

Answer 14

food
- the right to survival is paramount because it is only after survival that other rights follow

Question 15

Culture behind mining

Answer 15

There is a proud mining culture in the country, where copper mining extends back generations in families, and many miners attend trade schools to learn the mining craft.
– There is also a strong union tradition, with the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and the
National Union of Miners and Allied Workers
(NUMAW) representing more than 50,000 miners
throughout the industry.
– Finally, there is a detailed
and robust set of mining regulations, safety
standards, and labor laws that, at least on paper,
control every aspect of the industry and generally
conform to International Labor Organization
standards

Question 16

Economics of Mining

Answer 16

Dating back to 1928, when the country was the
British colony of Northern Rhodesia, copper
mining—particularly along the Zambian-
Congolese “Copperbelt” border—has long been
essential to the country’s economic development.
– Times are good at the moment, with record high copper prices in late 2010 and 2011: on July 1, 2011, the World Bank declared that Zambia had moved back up from low to low-middle income status

Question 17

Investment of Mining

Answer 17

In 1997, after decades of control by Zambian state-owned enterprises, or “parastatals,” the government sold the copper mines to private investors. Two decades of falling copper prices and low capital investment had left the industry a shell of its lucrative past.

Question 18

History of Chinese Mining in Zambia

Answer 18

1998: China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation entered the Zambian Mining Sector
2003: CNMC began mining operations through its subsidiaries
2011: Sata elected and in response miners go on strike. the main chinese-run cooper mine responded by firing at least 1000 workers
2023: Zambia Landslides kill 7 miners digging tunnels and more than 20 missing

Question 19

President Sata

Answer 19

Social Democrat who led the Patriotic Front (PF)
Hong Kong as a country, Taiwan as a Soverign State
2006
Elected in 2011 (41%)
April 2008 heart attack and Mwanawasa’s death
Vote counting
2011 increase anti-Chinese rhetoric
Investment climate in China uncertain post victory

Question 20

Sata Campaign Promises

Answer 20

Protect Chinese Investments
Cleanse Zambia of “imperialists, the capitalist-roaders”
revoke licenses for foreign investors if they resisted his orders to give at least a 25% stake in their companies to Zambians

Question 21

Outcomes for Miners

Answer 21

Regulations to explosives
chinese companies must provide PPE at each shift change
increased mapping requirements

Question 22

outcome for patriotic front

Answer 22

Triple mineral production in the next four years
capital inflow at an all-time high
Zambian research andventures at an all time high
Removal of double taxation policy

Question 23

outcome for chinese investment

Answer 23

green Revolution in Zambia
Lack of oversight by Zambian National Officals
Successful quelling of Union power
Netting the most metric tonnes every recorded

Question 24

Chinese Conceptions of Human Rights

Answer 24

– Communitarian emphasis on solidarity and
duty towards others;
– Confucian concern for promoting harmony;
– Pragmatic nationalism with a strong
emphasis on developmentalism;
– Centrality of development – considerable
– Emphasis on collective development rather
than individual rights and political liberty as
the paramount human right.

Question 25

Economic Development

Answer 25

China’s main goal
China has lifted more than 800 million out of poverty and built industries, infrastructure, health care, and schools

Question 26

China’s human rights violations at home

Answer 26

Tianammen Square Incident 1989 – the West criticized China heavily, China turned to developing and African countries for legitimacy. African
countries also criticized China
* “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghurs and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have been committed, Tibet,
* Violations of human rights noted in the Human
Rights Watch 2022

Question 27

China’s foreign policy regarding human rights

Answer 27

– The importance of the right to pursue economic prosperity; For developing countries the most basic rights are the rights to subsistence and to development.”
– The principle of non-interference in others domestic affairs and the norm of state sovereignty – criticized for this.

Question 28

Contradiction in Human Rights Application

Answer 28

– Mugabe’s government not only trampled on the civil and political rights the West holds dear but also subverted Zimbabwe’s economic and social rights which China claims to be important.
– China in such cases refers to sovereignty –
sovereignty being the basis of human rights – it is up to each country to define the basis of human rights of its people – what they are in each given context and how they should be realized!
– Non-interference – green light for autocrats

Question 29

China works with Abusive Regimes

Answer 29

– Worked with abusive governments of Zimbabwe and Sudan to suppress the people;
– worked with the Zimbabwean government to prevent resolutions that would have censored both governments for human rights abuses;
– China is doing it again with Russia over Ukraine – voted against resolution to censor Russia!

Question 30

China Pays less attention to the other Freedoms in
the UN Declaration

Answer 30

China focuses on declarations e.g. “everyone has a
right to a standard of living adequate for health and well being, food, clothing, health care,
housing, security
* Pays Less attention to universal rights

Question 31

To the Chinese the human rights to food, clothing, shelter, economic development and security are

Answer 31

paramount over traditional Western-style individual political liberties.

Question 32

New Partnership for African
Development

Answer 32

focus on democracy and governance
- some African leaders eager to develop do not share China’s view of human rights

Question 33

China needs to adapt

Answer 33

therefore its non- interference attitude has to change, ignoring human rights violations for the
sake of development will have to change

Question 33

Non-interference and human rights

Answer 33

Beijing then sabotages the growth of human rights movements by supporting autocratic regimes in the name of non-interference;

By supporting abusive regimes like Zimbabwe Beijing contradicts its own pronouncement on the meaning of human rights

Question 34

Chinese companies in Zambia

Answer 34

all subsidiaries of China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation, a state- owned enterprise under the authority of China’s highest executive
body

Question 35

Anti-Union Activities

Answer 35

The Chinese don’t understand the concept of a union. They intimidate those who lead or are part of a union.
If they know you’re a representative, you’ll encounter problems, they’ll try to frustrate you until you leave the job