Written evidence submitted by Dr Jane
Duckett, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum is based on over 20 years spent
studying, researching, and living in the PRC. Over the last 15
years my research has focussed on Chinese urban government and
politics, and most recently on social security reform, health
politics and policy.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
AND CHINA'S
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
China's current leaders (at the top, Hu Jintao,
Wen Jiabao) and have not yet demonstrated any commitment toward
genuine political democratisation. The CCP continues to try to
control the media (including the internet) so as to prevent unwanted
criticism of its rule. It relies on a combination of economic
growth promotion and nationalism to generate support.
The CCP leadership also continues to profess
a peaceful international political agenda. With the exception
of its rhetoric and actions toward Taiwan, this is generally evident
in the practice of its international relations. The focus at present
is on economic growth and mutually beneficial international economic
ties. International conflict is therefore undesirable, though
some of the elite (including the military elite) think it might
be necessary, despite the costs, should Taiwan declare independence.
China has long tended to conduct its international
relations bilaterally. This is in part probably because China's
economic significance means it has a stronger negotiating position
(and because before the 1980s it was excluded from many international
governmental organisations). But today China also lacks experience
in working with multilateral agencies. The FCO/UK government
might consider working with the PRC government to deliver programmes
of training for Chinese officials in international institutions,
processes and norms.
HUMAN RIGHTS:
THE NEGLECT
OF ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL
RIGHTS
There has been very little improvement in human
rights in the PRC over the six years since the last FAC inquiry
relating to China. Although attempts to develop policing and the
work of the courts, particularly in the richest cities, may have
led to some progress in the use of legal process, this pales into
insignificance in the context of widespread abuse or neglect of
political, civil, economic and social rights, particularly in
poorer parts of the country. I shall focus here on social rights
as these are often the most neglected in accounts of the human
rights situation in China today.
The Chinese central government used to say it
concentrated first on economic and social rights, rather than
civil and political rights, but the former are now eroding, with
rising unemployment, migration, and declining social security.
Although absolute poverty has fallen over the
last 20 years, income inequalities have grown rapidly since the
early 1990s and relative inequality is a pressing social problem
that threatens political stability. China has moved from being
one of the most equal in the world, to one of the most unequal.
Most worrying, at the same time the system of social security
that existed within the state planned economic system has been
eroded.
Although the state has substantially reformed
that defunct pre-marketisation social security system it still
remains highly problem-ridden:
— New social insurance programmes (for
old-age, unemployment and health) tend to provide only for the
urban working population because they are funded mainly by employers,
not local taxes. This leaves highly vulnerable not only rural
dwellers but also those without formal work, including children
and many rural migrants to the cities. There is little indication
of any genuine effort to deal with this gaping holes in the new
programmes. This is due a combination of: non-democratic politics
and lack of free debate on the social rights and social security;
weak state capacity and governance problems arising from a decentralised
fiscal system that has been beneficial to producing economic growth;
and the growth of informal sector employment.
— Means-tested income support is also
found almost exclusively in urban areas and is imperfectly implemented.
Although there has been a trend toward improving this new system
of support, its financing has not been fully institutionalised
and weak state capacity to implement it effectively remain serious
problems.
— Importantly, citizens have little
recourse to the law in order to back up any entitlements to social
security (though there have been some successful cases of people
resorting to the courts to obtain the benefits they are due in,
for example, Shanghai).
The UK could do more to focus on helping
tackle social rights problems in China, by raising them in the
UK-China human rights dialogue, and perhaps by extending the FCO's
human rights-related projects. This is especially important given
DfID's changing mode of involvement in China.
DECLINING ACCESS
TO HEALTH
SERVICES AND
ITS INTERNATIONAL
IMPLICATIONS
As noted in the FCO's Annual Human Rights Report
2005, human rights include rights to physical and mental health.
However, over the last decade and a half in China access to health
services has declined steeply for the poor as health insurance
systems have collapsed and treatment has become determined by
personal ability to pay. Decline in access has prevented many
of the poor in both rural and urban China from seeking the medical
treatment that they need and is now well-recognised to be a common
cause of impoverishment and potentially a source of political
instability.
A key central government think tank recently
argued in a long special report that the health system in disarray
and that health reform since the early 1990s have failed. The
spread of HIV/AIDS, the resurgence of malaria, and problems handling
the SARS and bird flu outbreaks demonstrate the central government's
limited ability to deal with health crises.
The SARS and bird flu cases also demonstrate
the significance of China's health policy both regionally and
internationally. The UK could do more to influence China to adopt
a more socially responsible health (and wider social) policy.
The failure of health policy, like the problems implementing means-tested
income support are fundamentally due to governance problems, some
of which stem from a decentralised fiscal system and weak central
control over policy implementation, lack of expertise, weak ability
to promote good practice across China. The FCO could work with
DfID and coordinate with other international actors, including
the EU and WHO, to help overcome obstacles to good governance
in health.
CHINESE STUDIES
IN THE
UK
Chinese studies in the UK, although benefiting
from the influx of Chinese students to UK universities, is still
not producing sufficient expertise for the UK's needs in for example
business, government and the media, as well as to train future
generations of experts. The recent initiative by the funding
councils to invest in training through centres of excellence is
very welcome but might need to be continued beyond the initial
five years of funding to sustain momentum and establish a solid
base of expertise.
RECOMMENDATIONS
— Training for PRC officials in institutions,
processes/procedures and norms of multilateral governmental organisations.
— Extend the UK-China human rights
dialogue and FCO human rights projects so that they help promote
social and economic as well as civil and political rights. Work
with international actors to improve governance relating to health
services. Social security and access to health care as well as
the balanced development of the health system are important not
only in terms of rights and good governance, but are potentially
damaging to Chinese domestic political stability and international
society if neglected.
— UK needs more experts in contemporary
China. The new funding council initiative for centres of excellence
in Chinese studies is to be welcomed, but needs to be followed
up with investment beyond the first five years in order to ensure
that momentum is sustained.
Dr Jane Duckett
University of Glasgow
19 March 2006
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