MCLC: international opinion on China's human rights

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: international opinion on China's human rights
***********************************************************

One of the more interesting findings from this report is that "Opinions of
the Chinese government’s human rights performance are highest in Africa,
the Middle East (except in Egypt, Israel and Turkey), Latin America and
traditional allies with large Muslim populations—Pakistan, Malaysia and
Indonesia." I say interesting because China has an abysmal record in its
treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang and Qinghai. As far as I know, only
Turkey has voiced criticisms of the restrictions on the practice of Islam
in western China. 

Paul

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Source: Human Rights Journal (7/18/13):
http://www.duihuahrjournal.org/2013/07/international-opinion-of-chinas-huma
n.html

International Opinion of China’s Human Rights Largely Negative
 

Despite some modest improvements over the past five years, international
opinion of China’s human rights record remains largely negative, according
to a just released poll taken by the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project
<http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/26909535/986136156/57254856/0/> .
Majorities or pluralities in 18 countries out of 38 polled answered “yes”
to the question “Does the Chinese government respect the personal freedoms
of its people,” while majorities or pluralities in 20 countries answered
no.

 
The poll on global attitudes towards China and other major countries
including the United States was conducted from March 2 to May 1 in 39
countries covering a total of 37,653 respondents (the margin of error
varies between three and five percent). Results from China are excluded on
the personal freedoms question as the Chinese government objected to
asking its citizens their opinions on its human rights performance. The
median score of those saying the Chinese government respects the rights of
its people was 36 percent. The median score among the 20 countries for
which tracking data is available was 26 percent, up from 23 percent when
Pew last asked this question in  2008
<http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/26909535/986136156/57254857/0/>.

 
Opinions of the Chinese government’s human rights record are lowest in
North America, Western Europe, Australia and China’s neighbors South Korea
and Japan. Among these countries more than 70 percent of respondents think
the Chinese government does not respect the personal freedoms of its
people. Opinions of the Chinese government’s human rights performance are
highest in Africa, the Middle East (except in Egypt, Israel and Turkey),
Latin America and traditional allies with large Muslim
populations—Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

 
The American people’s negative assessment of the Chinese government’s
human rights performance has remained consistent for the last 15 years. In
1997 and 1999, Gallup/CNN/USA Today polls asked Americans to rate the
Chinese government’s performance in respecting its citizens’ human rights.
In both years, 69 percent responded “mostly bad or very bad.” In the just
completed Pew poll, 71 percent of Americans held the view that the Chinese
government does not respect the personal freedoms of its people.

 
Overall, China’s “favorability” numbers in the Pew poll—i.e. the
percentage of respondents who have a favorable impression of the
country—follow the downward trajectory of China’s “positive influence”
numbers as recorded in the BBC/Globescan poll released earlier in May
<http://tracking.etapestry.com/t/26909535/986136156/57254858/0/> . In the
latter poll, respondents in 15 of 21 countries gave lower marks to China
in 2013 than they did in 2012. In the Pew poll, respondents in 12 of 19
countries for which year-by-year data is available had less favorable
opinions of China in 2013 than they did in 2012. The percentage of
Americans holding a favorable opinion of China in 2013—37 percent—is the
lowest since the Pew poll was first taken in 2007. In general, countries
with the least favorable opinions of China are the same countries that
give the Chinese government the lowest marks on respecting the rights of
its people.