Over the course of recent world history, few countries have grown quite like China, from an economic, influential and a geopolitical standpoint.
However, such a change does not happen overnight. Over the last 43 years, China has seen tremendous economic growth since the Chinese Economic Reform. In the wake of Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution in the 1970’s, China was in ruins. However, the Chinese Communist Party decided to pass sweeping reforms in 1978 with the hopes of revitalizing China, and bringing the nation to economic prosperity.
Many policies were implemented, but among the most influential was the development of special economic zones, which allowed for more business-friendly practices than the laws of China as a whole.
As a result of the economic policies that were passed, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 9.91% from 1979 to 2010, according to The Guardian’s DataBlog. While the Chinese Economic Reform is one of the main reasons for this exponential growth, it is not the only reason. A number of other factors have contributed to this as well.
Since China’s economy opened up to the world after the reforms were passed, sweatshops have become more and more prominent in the country. A sweatshop is a factory with employees that are paid almost little to no money for long hours of work, often with terrible working conditions. As time went on, China has found ways to avoid paying workers in sweatshops all together, which incentivized companies to relocate their manufacturing to China to avoid paying their employees.
In recent years, China has taken criticism for their forced labor practices on the Uyghur muslims in the Xinjiang province. In February of 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) reported that at least 82 companies around the world including Apple, Nike and Sony, just to name a few, had been utilizing muslim slave labor in China.
China first opened “Muslim re-education camps” in 2017, and there are currently over 1,000 camps in operation. According to the BBC, In these labor camps, Muslims are forced to renounce their faith, and they are also forced to praise the Chinese Communist Party. Detainees of these camps are also subject to systemic rape and forced sterilization.
While it is widely known that China benefits immensely from forced labor, they have gone largely unpunished for their crimes against humanity.
Unfortunately, China’s economic growth has been fueled by much more than their war crimes. In 2013, China passed the “Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy aimed at developing the infrastructure of the African continent, while also expanding China’s foreign influence on developing nations. It is estimated that China’s trade routes will expand to over 60 countries by the time it is finished. According to the Silk Road Briefing, It is estimated that between 2013 and 2018, China invested $500 Billion in various Belt and Road projects.
The Belt and Road initiative benefits China immensely in so many ways. For starters, China wants to secure trade routes, and developing the African continent certainly accomplishes that. Many of China’s state-owned companies would benefit from having their markets expanded by having presence expanded in Africa. In addition to this, China could use their outstanding debts to influence other countries and their governments.
In addition to the geopolitical impact of the Belt and Road Initiative, there are also countless effects that it will have on the environment. According to a study titled “Greening the Belt and Road Initiative”, published by WWF and the United Nations Environment Management Group, the Belt and Road Initiative has not taken the proper steps to protect the rich ecosystems of Southeast Asia, as well as parts of Africa. Unless this changes, the biodiversity of these regions could be put at great risk.
In addition to the risks posed to the biodiversity of the region, there are also risks posed to humans as well. If deforestation happens to the degree that is required for certain parts of the Belt and Road Initiative to move forward, then landslides and tropical storms will become even more catastrophic.
Western nations should be alarmed by these practices. The United States, as well as the United Nations, should be doing more to punish China for their human rights violations. After World War II, the United Nations ratified the Geneva Conventions, which are rules that make clear how people should be treated in times of war. China has clearly violated these conventions by the way they treat the Uyghur people. Western nations must also keep a close eye on China’s neocolonialism and blatant disregard for the importance of the environment in Africa and other parts of the world, as it could have a lasting impact for centuries to come. By doing so, western nations can ensure liberty for all individuals, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or gender.
The United States Must Be Cautious of China’s Influence on the World Stage
Written by: Alexandra MorkHarry Murphy
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Hi Harry! Thank you for sharing your post. Your points about China’s human rights violations are really important, as well as their development of the Belt and Road Initiative. I think another way China has been growing their influence that connects to your argument is through their participation in global institutions. This is especially true in cases where their domestic policies don’t align with their stance internationally. For example, China has long participated in the Human Rights Council, and is a current member. Given the global awareness of their human rights abuses, this is hypocritical, but China takes the opportunities presented to them to put their officials in leadership positions in these international bodies. It became even more significant while President Trump was in office and the US pulled out of a significant number of these international groups. China stepped in to fill the vacancy. Another example is in regards to environmental conservation. As you mentioned, the Belt and Road Initiative doesn’t abide by many conservation standards, and yet China promotes green energy around the world and considers itself a renewable energy leader. While it seems like these hypocrisies shouldn’t be able to last, I am doubtful that countries who benefit from China’s support in these areas are likely to call them out. Do you think other countries, like the members of the EU, could also play a role in recognizing this issue, and which country or group of countries is most likely to be successful?