Research Topics

China, the world's most populous country, since the 1970s has steadily grown in prominence in international affairs and the global economy, focusing worldwide attention on its human rights record. The Communist-ruled country has pursued a path of economic liberalization coupled with firm social controls, a formula that it contends is vital to maintaining stability as it makes the transition to a market-based economy.

A short-lived flourishing of open political expression, the 1978–79 "Democracy Wall" movement, was suppressed, with prominent dissidents jailed. However, demands for democratization threatened to escape the government's control amid student-led demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The authorities ultimately responded with a violent military crackdown, and determination to prevent a similar movement has been a top priority of China's internal security agencies. China has also sought to suppress dissident activity in the Tibet region, contending that rights activists there are separatists seeking to subvert the state. Greater economic freedoms and increasing links with the rest of the world continue to raise new human rights questions.

What responsibility do foreign corporations that seek business opportunities in China, and democratic countries that seek cooperative relations with this major power, have to try to combat rights abuses?

Will the Chinese government be able to manage the social tensions arising from economic upheaval?