Wednesday, April 19, 2006

White House Puts Face on North Korean Human Rights

The article calls to mind Schulz' book "In Our Own Best Interest" and how human rights and politics can get complicated. In anticipation of the Chinese presidents visit to the White House, many groups have been putting pressure on President Bush to take a stand for human rights. Christian groups and other politicians are urging Bush to discuss China's actions in deporting an asylum seeker from N.Korea. A N.Korean woman managed to escape from N. Korea and enter into China. Instead of granting her asylum China sent her back. N.Korea is a well-known abuser of human rights and Bush has previously denounced them for their actions. But, as the article mentions, the U.S. has been too concerned with the nuclear threat posed by N.Korea to bother with "human rights." Since arriving here on Tuesday, Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, has been visiting with important buisness leaders such as Bill Gates and the chairmen of Starbucks. His trip is very much focused around economics, since China is growing in both political and economic power. This presents a tricky situation for President Bush. Will Bush speak out about China's actions or ignore it for fear of disrupting a political relationship?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

First of all, it's quite obvious that Dubya is going to do whatever he wants to concerning discussions with Chinese officials. This article brings up some interesting questions concerning government and foreign policy. Is the U.S. justified in their minimal efforts to confront the flagrant human rights abuses in N. Korea given their nuclear potential? Although we must respect the fact that N. Korea is a potential threat it should not deter our efforts to preserve human rights, (even if those efforts are not always found) Of course foreign policy directed at N. Korea requires delicacy, but todaY women and children are being violated by a government that has not fired any nukes nor will it likely in the future. I'd say Bush will handle it, but who are we kidding.

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