Journalist discusses China

Among witty anecdotes and sarcastic humor, foreign correspondent and author David Aikman explored yesterday why human rights in China has suddenly become a hot topic in America. Aikman -- who has worked as both a foreign and senior correspondent during his 23 years with Time magazine -- began his lecture, entitled "China and the World: Do Human Rights Matter?" by describing Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Square three weeks ago. The scene was a demonstration protesting Chinese President Jiang Zemin's human rights record, while he was meeting with President Clinton. Amid what Aikman called a "cacophony of noises," all types of people from both the left and the right of the American political spectrum -- "a sea of placards" -- joined together in the protest. Aikman contrasted the demonstration with the state dinner later that evening. He noted that at the dinner, business and political leaders -- who probably thought isolating China was wrong -- sat beside the rulers of a country whose actions had just been protested. But Aikman pointed out that the protesters and those at the dinner were both right in their thinking, just from different perspectives. During the talk, which drew more than 30 people to College Hall's Room 200, Aikman explained that China as a whole does have a better human rights record now than it did in the early 1970s. Then again, he added, most of the world is better off now. If conditions in China are better now than they were 25 years ago, Aikman asked, "Why are so many more Americans making a big fuss about human rights in China?" Aikman gave three reasons for the fuss -- the changing global scene, Tiananmen Square and rising expectations. He said they all must be considered to understand what will happen next in China and how the country will interact with the rest of the world. In China, he said, "you have the machinery of a modern democratic state but you don't have the reality of it -- something isn't quite right." Aikman said it is fair to hold China to higher human rights standards today than in the past since China has become a "major player" in the world scene and is aspiring to become a respected global power. While this is a reasonable goal for any nation, China must understand that the world will hold it accountable to certain standards that are often taken for granted in other countries, according to Aikman. "No major country can deal with the world in a way the world will trust unless that country in some measure is honest towards its own citizens," he said. Looking to the future, Aikman concluded by saying that human rights are extremely important in "how China manages the change from the present system to something better -- that is going to be the key." College sophomores Fred Li and Brennan Gian-Grasso were impressed with the new outlook Aikman presented. Li thought the notion of truth and forgiveness was an interesting concept to apply to human rights. Gian-Grasso added, "It's easy to see human rights as a trendy theme, so it's nice to see the philosophy behind it and the thought that goes into it."