MCLC: Clinton must visit Chen (3)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Anne Henochowicz <annemh at alumni.upenn.edu>
Subject: Clinton must visit Chen (3)
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Human rights are universal, but enforcing them across state borders is a
monumental task that the world has only just begun to tackle. We have a
UN, we have a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we have member
countries that pledge to abide by that declaration. But that hasn't done a
whole lot of good in China, has it? Or Syria? How do you get more than
mere promises from countries like these?

There's been a lot of talk about the timing of Chen's escape, right before
the Strategic and Economic Dialogue convened in Beijing. I have heard the
argument that Chen is just one person, and that Sino-U.S. relations can't
be put on the line for one person. But there is a whole constellation of
family members and supporters directly affected by Chen's fate, not to
mention the precedent his case will set. Now that the U.S. has been
brought into this, we can't leave Chen hanging. Our reputation among the
Chinese people is at stake. The Chinese people themselves are going to
have to be the ones to make the changes they clearly want to see in their
country, but they have to know that the world has their back.

The CCP grossly miscalculated in dealing with Chen. When "adventure
tourists" starting trying to visit him last fall, Chen became
international news. Ethically, it's obvious what should have happened.
Strategically, the central government should have defused this bomb once
it started getting so much attention. Maybe the government really didn't
care, or truly believed nothing like the events of the past ten days would
ever unfold. What I suspect, however, is that the government couldn't come
to a consensus and make a move. As powerful as it looks from the outside,
Bo Xilai has shown us just how much internecine struggles go on within.

Anne