Human rigts are for the poor nations and the human rights bodies also criticised the poor nations.Human rights is a tool from developed world to slow down the economy of the developng nation.The case of china is not bad as of united state of America.The cases of Guanta ,Abu gharib,invasion on Iraq and afghansiatn all these shows the gorss violation of human rights.other hand a violator cannot threat to other violater if other one is alos powefull.so the morality of human rights is meaningless for powerfull country like china.which countr doesnot want a share in booming chinese economy?

Re: Shieh Jhy-wey

"The world faces another challenge today. Of the nearly 200 countries in the world, Taiwan is the only one denied a seat in the United Nations (UN). China, which makes unfounded claims to our nation’s territory, has pressured the UN to ignore the tenets of its own Charter, which calls for granting membership to all peace-loving states. I want to challenge each of you today to support Taiwan’s membership in the UN. I challenge you to let the human spirit free once more. I challenge you to show love for your fellow men and women. This is not a political act. It goes beyond party, race, creed, and every other distinction. It is a human act in defense of equality and human dignity."

It's amusing that you have to use so much prop about “love” “peace” “dignity” to sugar-coat your “Taiwan independence” message. I feel sorry that, as a minister of government with close ties with Washington and with such practiced English, you could not find your way to publish a formal opinion piece (better yet, a guest editorial) in WoPo, but have to resort to sneak your 11 paragraphs under the disguise of public commentary to a minor blog piece in a, frankly, off-topic manner. Yes, everyone in the world knows your desire to be an independent country and to have a formal seat at the UN and other international organizations. You urge the readers (who are presumably mostly Americans with the balance from all over the world) to do something in support of your independent course, with gaining a seat at the UN being one of the steps. But what we the readers can do? Write a letter to the UN? I doubt that will have any effect because the UN in 1971 with Resolution 2758 already expelled (yes, this was the word used) the ROC from its bodies. Ask our governments (the one in Washington in my case) to support your pursuit? There have been voices in Washington (including the lobby firms your government pays to retain year after year) much louder than mine advocating just that but have not made a real dent in official American policy. Then, what else can I do? Should I (better yet, ask my sons to) stow away iPod, pick up a gun and come to Taiwan to help fight the Chinese military in the case they stick to their words and attack you when the day comes that you achieve your noble and dignified aspiration of being formally independent? I am afraid that may not work out because I have a mortgage to pay and I am not sure what a war will do to my interest rate. Well, of course, absolutely, you can still count on me for moral support, I will make sure to post a sympathetic comment on this very same blog when the time comes.

The fact is that there are plenty of arguments going around for Taiwan’s independent course as well as for China’s unification course. The fact is that over 160 countries, including every major power in today’s world, have diplomatic relations with China—they either support, recognize, or unwilling to go against China’s unification drive; whereas 20 or so small counties, mostly in Central America, have kept official relations with Taiwan—they either give lip service or uncommitted to Taiwan’s independent course. As Taiwan’s most dependable friend, the U.S. has said that it wants to maintain the status quo and would defend Taiwan if China attaches to break the status quo, but it also stated recently and repeatedly that Taiwan’s UN drive constitutes a break of status quo. So it’s anybody’s guess as what the U.S. will do in the case of Taiwan becomes independent (as defined by the U.S.) and then China attaches. Well, Taiwan can gamble on an X% chance that the U.S. under that scenario will still support it militarily, in contrast to a 100% chance of Chinese attach. If this is how Mr. Shieh Jhy-wey likes it, go ahead by all means—do all you can to defeat Chinese military or break China’s will and achieve your independent paradise. Sincere good wishes from me, but don’t bet too heavily that I, my brothers and sons want to see our names inscribed to a memorial monument somewhere on the island of Taiwan. In the remote prospect that you experience cold-feet, here is an alternative: go to talk to the other guys across the strait, figure it out amiably among yourselves—you may even stumble on a realization that, with the status quo, you have the best of both worlds as you are enjoying the precious peace and riding high with the Chinese economy (and taking advantage of the economic concessions the Chinese government gives to you as enticement), and yet you and your betelnut-chewing gang (instead of those “Chinese pigs”) are still the ones calling the shots on the island.

Concerning China's Human Rights problem, isn't there a capable organization that can do the preaching? is it possible that if other countries would boycott the Olympics, would it send a message that the world does not agree with what China is doing?

Shieh Jhy-wey says:

"In seeking UN membership, we are not asking the world for a favor. We are challenging it to return to the spirit of unity embodied in that editorial, to stand behind the oft-quoted principle that we are all created equal, and to realize that we are all in this together. You, as a reader, have the power to help make this happen. Show your true colors. The people of Taiwan are counting on you."

American Observer replies:

Thank you, Shieh Jhy-wey. I support your cause one hundred percent, and I expect that all decent people will too.

True Colors

We live in a good world, with good people in it. The human race has shown time and again that a spirit of compassion and love can overcome adversity, fear, injustice, and aggression. Natural disasters, famines, disease, conflict, terrorism, and tyranny do their worst, but this indomitable spirit marches on, manifesting itself every day around the globe.

Though we are just seven years into the new millennium, we have already seen humanity meet many tragedies with a great outpouring of support that has saved and transformed countless lives. Perhaps the most striking example of this came at the close of 2004, when an underwater earthquake caused a tsunami killing people in nations from Indonesia to South Africa. In the wake of the devastation, the world opened its heart, rushing supplies, medical personnel, and financial aid to the region to help people rebuild their lives. Nearly US$7 billion has been pledged by people from every nation and all walks of life to help these nations rebuild.

Almost a year prior to that catastrophe, an earthquake in Iran leveled the city of Bam, causing nearly 80,000 casualties. Nations across the world—including states not on the best of terms with Iran—rushed supplies and search-and-rescue teams to the area, saving countless lives.

Relatively well-off nations have, in their turn, also been the recipients of humanitarian assistance and spiritual support. After Hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans in the United States in 2005, challenging the ability of the world’s sole superpower to bounce back, charity on a global scale was again the order of the day.

Closer to home, in September of 1999, an earthquake devastated central Taiwan, killing over 2,000 and doing billions of dollars in damage. Rushing to the scene were rescue teams from all nations. Relief aid also flowed from around the world to quake victims, and the people of Taiwan have not forgotten.

The government, organizations, and people of Taiwan are always among the first to respond to a disaster. Showing solidarity with the tsunami victims, Taiwan was the eighth-highest donor of cash and supplies, with over half of Taiwan’s 23 million people making a contribution; volunteers from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation rushed to Iran to help rebuild schools and distribute donated food, medicine, and supplies; and millions of dollars in cash and goods were donated to people in the United States by the people of Taiwan, who remember clearly the aid provided to them just a generation ago by the American people.

The human spirit knows not only how to recover, but also how to build. The continued integration of the states of Europe testifies to this, as people divided by language, culture, and historical interpretation have joined together under the banner of the European Union, adopting a single currency and working to integrate on all fronts.

Meanwhile, we have seen freedom spread in the past few years as oppressed people in the Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Lebanon have thrown off the shackles that bound them in the so-called color revolutions. As they moved to reify US President Woodrow Wilson’s vision of self-determination, these people’s success depended a great deal on the support offered them by the community of democracies, as does that of all peoples determined to fight for freedom and human rights.

The world faces another challenge today. Of the nearly 200 countries in the world, Taiwan is the only one denied a seat in the United Nations (UN). China, which makes unfounded claims to our nation’s territory, has pressured the UN to ignore the tenets of its own Charter, which calls for granting membership to all peace-loving states. I want to challenge each of you today to support Taiwan’s membership in the UN. I challenge you to let the human spirit free once more. I challenge you to show love for your fellow men and women. This is not a political act. It goes beyond party, race, creed, and every other distinction. It is a human act in defense of equality and human dignity.

Not so very long ago, on September 12, 2001, a quiet recognition of our inseparability as people defined the spirit I am speaking of. As the rubble from the World Trade towers continued to burn in the streets of New York City, the French newspaper Le Monde published an editorial entitled simply, “Nous sommes tous Américains,” – “We Are All Americans.”

In seeking UN membership, we are not asking the world for a favor. We are challenging it to return to the spirit of unity embodied in that editorial, to stand behind the oft-quoted principle that we are all created equal, and to realize that we are all in this together. You, as a reader, have the power to help make this happen. Show your true colors. The people of Taiwan are counting on you.

By Shieh Jhy-wey, Minister, Government Information Office, Taiwan

Even if America were in the habit of practicing what it preached, there would be little it could do to improve the human rights situation in China. In fact, there is little the Chinese government seems capable of doing about the human rights disasters streaming out the "developing" corridors. Beijing can talk all day long about harmony, but without working judicial process, infringements on citizens human rights will continue to plague the country. Fortunately, China is trying to improve the legal system- out of concern for business, not human rights, but the motives arent whats important.
For the US to stymie China's economic growth would only lead to more human rights issues developing in the country.

Even if America were in the habit of practicing what it preached, there would be little it could do to improve the human rights situation in China. In fact, there is little the Chinese government seems capable of doing about the human rights disasters streaming out the "developing" corridors. Beijing can talk all day long about harmony, but without working judicial process, infringements on citizens human rights will continue to plague the country. Fortunately, China is trying to improve the legal system- out of concern for business, not human rights, but the motives arent whats important.
For the US to stymie China's economic growth would only lead to more human rights issues developing in the country.
That having been said, China's human rights abuses abroad are inexcusable, and there is much the US can do to hold China accountable. For instance, china's role as financier and weapons supplier of the Sudanese government in exchange for access to the country's oil reserves has placed much genocidal blood on Beijing hands.
A handful of high profile activists threatened to initiate an American boycott of the upcoming Olympics, however, and Beijing arranged for the delivery of peace keepers instead of peacemakers to the Sudanese government.

Daoud Kuttab said:

"The US is currently unwilling, for financial reasons, to preach about human rights; even if that weren’t the case, it now lacks the moral standing to do so (it has its own problems spying on its citizens, illegally invading Iraq and torturing prisoners at Guantanamo.)"

American Observer replies:

Oh, Lord. Daoud, they asked you about China, and half of your message managed to be about Guantanamo-Guantanamo-Guantanamo, anyway.

In America we have a proverb. We say that anything that goes into a sausage grinder comes out as sausage. Daoud Kuttab is much the same; any issue that goes into his ear comes out as 'Guantanamo! Iraq! Israel!' and the usual list. If they asked Daoud about Global Warming or the new fashions in Paris I am sure he would answer the same way. Daoud, why does anybody ask you any questions about anything except The Rage Of Islam? And why do you pretend to have any interest in or knowledge of any other question?