By Andy Jackson
Chinese human rights violations have been major news since Beijing was awarded the right to host the Games in 2001. In fact, the awarding of the 2008 Olympics to China, after it failed to get the right to host the 2000 Games, was at least partially based on its promise to improve its human rights record.
Liu Jingmin, a Chinese Olympic Committee official (and currently Executive Vice President of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee) promised the Games would be ``an opportunity to foster democracy, improve human rights, and integrate China with the rest of the world.''
That has failed to happen.
China's human rights problems are so numerous and varied that it is difficult to know where to begin. In fact, there are so many issues involved that a hierarchy of complaints has developed, with China's support of despotic regimes and its suppression of ethnic minorities taking precedent over its suppression of political and religious dissidents.
There has much criticism of China's continued support of brutal regimes like those in Myanmar (AKA: Burma), Sudan and Zimbabwe. While the realities of international relations dictate that states must sometimes ally with unsavory governments, Beijing seems to go out of its way to court the affections of such international pariah states.
Chinese suppression of Tibetans has long been an international celebrity issue and was the reason for many of the protests along the Olympic torch route earlier this year. Similar problems being faced by the less cuddly Uighur people in Northwest China have also gotten increased attention recently.
Concerned about the myriad human rights problems in China but not wishing to offend China Inc. with substantial legislation, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a simple resolution (H.R. 1370) last month. Such resolutions do not have the weight of law and are meant simply to show the opinion of the House. Among other things, the resolution called on Beijing to ``immediately release all those imprisoned or detained for nonviolently exercising their political and religious rights and their right to free expression.''
The resolution only briefly mentioned the plight of North Korean refugees in China, noting that Beijing increased the bounties offered for turning in North Korean refugees earlier this year.
China has done more than that. Since 2006, it has beefed up its border patrols and repatriated refugees at an increased rate. Beijing has also erected barriers along the border to restrict the number of North Koreans escaping from their homeland.
It is likely that China will at least partially lift the heavy security on its border with North Korea once the Olympics are over and the chance of an embarrassing international incident lessens.
While Beijing does not relish the idea of tens or hundreds of thousands of North Koreans hiding in its northeastern region, it likes the idea of a regime collapse in North Korea even less. The flood of refugees, along with the money they sometimes send to families back home, is an important safety valve helping to limit instability in North Korea.
Of course, maintaining a ``proper flow" of refugees is not an easy task for Beijing to manage. If it is too difficult to escape North Korea, the result could be chaos as frustrated and desperate North Koreans rise up against the Kim Jong-il regime.
If it is too easy for North Koreans to cross into China, Beijing fears that the resulting flood of refugees could also destabilize Pyongyang. The Chinese remember that the communist bloc in Eastern Europe did not survive long after Hungary opened its border with Austria, allowing East Germans and others to flee to the west.
So China is calculating a delicate balance.
While there are limits to what South Korea and the US can do to change Chinese policy, they can alter China's ``refugee calculus.'' The U.S. can start by accepting more North Korean refugees. Seoul and Washington could also support the underground railroad that helps North Korean refugees escape China via Mongolia or South East Asia.
While China will not grant refugee status to North Koreans due to its close relationship with Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington should seek to have Beijing provide North Koreans in China with humanitarian protection short of refugee status.
While not a long-term solution, such a status would allow international relief agencies legal access to North Korean refugees in China and would make those refugees less vulnerable to labor and sexual exploitation.
There is little excuse for Seoul and Washington not to at least pursue those limited goals.
In a fitting gesture, the U.S. flag was carried into the Beijing's Olympic stadium by Lopez Lomong, a Sudanese-born 1,500m runner.
As has been oft-noted, Lomong spent 10 years in a camp for Sudanese refugees in Kenya before relocating to the United States. He became an American citizen last year.
If nothing else, the choice will highlight the plight of refugees fleeing Sudan and elsewhere.
It was one former refugee's moment in the spotlight. Long after the Olympics are over, those North Korean refugees who manage to escape to China will continue to be condemned to life in the dark.
Andy Jackson teaches American government in the Lakeland College bridge program at Ansan College, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at andyinrok@lycos.com.