The big question: the Olympics and Chinese human rights

I am a huge fan of the Big Question series in the Independent. These articles condense the nuts and bolts of topical issues onto one page, and recent features have covered everything from illegal downloading to the history of Batman. The Indy usually throw in a few politics ones as well! Today’s considers whether human rights have improved in the run up to the Olympics in Beijing. As you will know from one of my previous blog postings, this was one of the promises of the Chinese government on winning the 2008 bid, but many human rights campaigners have been frustrated by an apparent lack of progress.

The summary is here

So has China backtracked?

Yes…

* For some people things have actually got worse since the Olympic bidding process

* Improved conditions for foreign reporters have not been extended to domestic media

* Public displays of dissent are still not tolerated by the government

No…

* Change in China is slow – this is a very ancient culture, don’t forget

* China now guarantees human rights in its constitution, including private property rights

* Improving living standards mean people have a far better life than 30 years ago

Read the full article, and see the accompanying colour graphic, here