Japan & China

Japan & China

By:   Kristi Cuschieri


      Japan & China


      Making big news recently was President Clinton's visit to China.   One
      important item on his agenda was the human rights issue.   Violation of human
      rights became more of a problem after the Tiananmen Square massacre.   It
      happened in 1989, where pro democracy students in Beijing were shot down.  
      Even though this happened about nine years ago, the rapid police reactions to
      modern protests show how sensitive the bloody incident still is.   Human
      rights have been defined by the United Nations and condensed into a document
      called The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   China is violating these
      rights in many different ways.   While many Chinese want the communist
      government overthrown, others are resisting change, mainly because they are
      well off, while the rest of the civilians are not happy with the present
      government.
      Proclaimed after World War II, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights   (or
      UDHR)   sets out to define the human rights, which are fundamental to the
      self-respect and development of every human being.   These range from economic
      rights, such as the right to work and to an adequate standard of living, to
      political rights, such as freedom of opinion and expression.   They also
      include civil rights, such as equality before the law, and social or cultural
      rights.   The UDHR proclaims that all these rights belong to all people.  
      Consisting of 30 articles the UDHR has a number of rules and regulations, for
      example: Article 3 "Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of
      person," Article 4 "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and
      the slave trade shall be prohibited in all
      their forms."   As you can tell, especially from the fourth article the UDHR
      is not always followed.   Not all the...