6.9 What can be done?

6.9 What Can Be Done?

Take action

When the Canadian government is involved in trade talks with China, our government has the opportunity to use its relationship to encourage China to provide greater rights for its people. How Canada can best use this opportunity for the greater good is a matter of debate.

• Should Canada discuss human rights or systems of government with China's leaders?

• Should our leaders respect the Chinese social norm of face or mianzi, which includes avoiding causing another person to lose face by not bringing up embarrassing facts in public?

• Should we hope that, through example, the Chinese will want to provide better rights?

• Should we refuse to trade with China until they demonstrate a willingness to change?

• Should we encourage trade, because through increased contact, the people of China will begin to demand change?

Most people in the developed world live in democratic nations with a fundamental belief that citizens should be at the core of decision making. However, many other forms of government exist in the world today. Some countries are monarchies; others are oligarchies, where one family or a small group of elite people rule; some are theocracies ruled by a religious leader; others function under single party rule where one political party controls the government; and others are military dictatorships, where one man, supported by an army, rules the nation. Although not every person who lives in a non-democratic state supports that form of government, others believe that their form of government is right.