Kinzelbach, Katrin --- "Human rights in Chinese foreign policy: a battle for global public opinion" [2019] ELECD 1298; in Biddulph, Sarah; Rosenzweig, Joshua (eds), "Handbook on Human Rights in China" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 84

Book Title: Handbook on Human Rights in China

Editor(s): Biddulph, Sarah; Rosenzweig, Joshua

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Human rights in Chinese foreign policy: a battle for global public opinion

Author(s): Kinzelbach, Katrin

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

This chapter reviews from when, why and how human rights have played a role in the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China. Until 1988, human rights did not figure prominently in Chinese diplomacy. From 1989 onwards, as a result of an international outcry against the violent crackdown of peaceful demonstrations, the Party-state initially employed a defensive rhetoric that focused on downplaying human rights violations. Beijing’s diplomats offered to engage in confidential dialogues and signaled goodwill by making a number of calculated concessions. As memories of the massacre faded and global power dynamics shifted, the Party-state’s international stance on human rights became more assertive. This chapter argues that the People’s Republic successfully used a combination of propagandistic communications and tools of power politics to immunize itself against international human rights criticism.