Human Rights in the People’s Republic of China

This book examines the effects that political institutions, the legal system, and economic policies have had on the human rights record in the PRC since 1949. The authors first address the problems of assessing political liberties in a nation that emphasizes economic over civil rights and that has traditionally valued collective rights over individual freedom. In later chapters the authors describe how various “target groups”–intellectuals, youth groups, women, and religious and racial minorities–have fared under communist leadership. Also included is a statistical analysis of the record of the PRC’s judicial system, based on 38,000 cases of arrests, detentions, and sentences reported in the Chinese press. The authors assert that human rights violations were more serious during the Cultural Revolution than at any other time in recent history, although the situation did not receive much attention in the world press or among human rights advocates. The documents show that in recent years the human rights record has improved somewhat, but the authors conclude that current trends are most discouraging.