The Great Firewall of China: Human Rights and China

What is meant by "human rights"?  There are basic tenets that were agreed upon by the UN Convention in 1948, known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  China continues to receive scrutiny and criticism by the international community for its lack of attention to basic human rights, ranging from issues of censorship, imprisonment without fair trial, environmental burdens without compensation, or social marginalization of targeted groups. 

After reading this Module's reading selections that aim to familiarize you with each of these topics, present a cohesive critical comment on the subject of "China and Human Rights." What is at issue and why does it matter?  Should the US and international community take a stand to influence how China handles human rights issues in its country (or in countries its working with via trade/industry) or is it better to just let China maintain its own domestic authority on such matters?  Be sure to refer to and cite the readings in your responses.

(1) responds to all aspects of the prompt, (2) use concrete examples from the text(s) to validate your response and be sure to cite (page numbers needed), and (3) draws connections across of the readings.

Reading Selections

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html

2. Liu Xiaobo "I Have No Enemies" Nobel Prize speech

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2010/xiaobo/lecture/

3. Liu Xiaobo's Death

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/13/liu-xiaobo-nobel-laureate-chinese-political-prisoner-dies-61

4. The Great Firewall of China

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown