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This article underlines the need to pay attention to institutional design in the analysis of China's stated aim of leading the reform of global governance. The argument made here is that institutional choice and institutional design matter in relation to the larger question of how Chinese objectives are translated into its desired outcomes. The process of translation is hindered or enabled not solely by the embeddedness of normative ideas but also by design features such as membership criteria, informal or formal voting and procedural rules, the relative power and status of various institutions, together with the relative power of China within these institutions. The ways in which institutional design affects what China is actually able to achieve is shown in reference to two UN-related and one Beijing-initiated international organization that deal with human rights, an issue area where China's determination to effect reform or revision is largely agreed to be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the World Summit on the Information Society and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, states translated the global vision of digital inclusion into local policies at the national and regional levels. This article examines how state agencies in China, a technologically advanced country with a large disabled population, have leveraged the agenda of web accessibility over the course of the last two decades. By carrying out an analysis of 93 national policies and 21 technical guidelines issued between 2001 and 2021, this article critically examines how and why the Chinese state's embrace of the term 'barrier-free information' (信息无障碍) does not result in a coherent policy paradigm but might instead engender new barriers which in fact have the potential to disorient disabled people. Points of interests: Using the case of contemporary China, this article illustrates the problems of implementing the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in a particular national context. We provide an overview of the Chinese state's use of the term 'barrier-free information' (信息无障碍) as used in 114 national policies. While 'barrier-free information' has become a new buzzword in China, we show that its legal definitions are unclear, and its related policies are often in conflict with each other. We argue that more research is needed to understand the negative effects of incoherent accessibility policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent Canadian allegations of a link between Indian agents and the murder of a Sikh Canadian leader have sunk the Canada-India relationship. Diplomatically speaking, the US is balancing between supporting its traditional ally Canada and its newfound strategic partner India in its struggle against Chinese hegemony. India's seemingly exceptional treatment at present reminds us of the "China human rights exception" in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the US government chose not to call out China's problems with human rights, even as America was itself adopting a foreign policy centring on human rights. Despite the many differences between China and India, the China exception and its related historical process helps us understand the evolving "India exception," which indeed exists and likely represents the beginning of the end of the honeymoon period between India and the West, although it may take at least two decades for that process to culminate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many autocrats govern with an in-group, whose support must be secured, and an out-group, which is subject to repression. How do autocrats exploit in-group/out-group dynamics to secure their survival? One strategy, we argue, is to broadcast out-group repression to the in-group as a signal of the regime's capacity for violence. Empirically, we focus on China, where the government represses ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Drawing on 1 million articles from six propaganda newspapers, we show that the regime broadcasts out-group repression to urban elites on each anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when 10% of Beijing residents joined anti-regime protests. To understand its effects, we conducted a survey experiment balanced on the national census during the June 2020 Tiananmen anniversary. Using a list experiment to mitigate preference falsification, we show that CCP propaganda about Uyghurs during the Tiananmen anniversary discourages protests among politically engaged urban elites because they fear repression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its close relationship to employment rights, the concept of the public interest in labour law lacks extensive discussion. Even fewer scholars have studied employment discrimination in China from this perspective, despite China signing many international Conventions and Recommendations related to employment rights. This article analyses the social-based attributes in China's employment anti-discrimination laws, arguing that the laws should prioritise the protection of public interests. It then distils the connotation of the social public interest carried by the laws from the perspectives of legal values, the independence of legal interest, and legislative purposes. Subsequently, this article examines the implementation of the laws at judicial and administrative levels, identifying limitations in individual-oriented approaches and deficiencies in safeguarding the public interest. These limitations and deficiencies primarily manifest in the fact that labour agencies generally do not accept employment discrimination complaints or subtly exclude hiring processes from the scope of administrative enforcement, while courts are accustomed to a private law rationale of compensating for actual losses. Accordingly, this article suggests establishing and maintaining a fair labour market competition order by imposing punitive damages to deter potential discrimination, activating administrative enforcement to rectify past discrimination, and guiding employers to proactively assume social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a sociological perspective on understanding rights in China, examining the interplay between multiple myths of rights, rights abuses, and the politics of rights within various social and physical spaces. It highlights competing myths of rights held by the state, ordinary citizens, rights activists, and legal professionals. The article examines how rights abuses contribute to rights consciousness and mobilization across different human rights domains in a repressive political context. By analyzing the politics of rights in interconnected spaces, such as the street, the legal system, the global arena, and cyberspace, it emphasizes the importance of continuous engagement between domestic and overseas actors in shaping China's human rights future. The article encourages social science researchers to thoroughly examine the myths, abuses, and politics of rights before making normative judgments about China's human rights conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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According to the Economist, South Africa's loyalty to China has made the former's foreign policy 'clueless and immoral'. This article examines the extent and solidity of South Africa's support for China's attempt to undermine the international human rights system. It does so by evaluating South Africa's responses to China's positions on seventeen issue areas of the UN Human Rights Council's work. More specifically, the article assesses South Africa's actions in relation to 132 Chinese-backed attempts to amend council resolutions in an anti-human rights direction. The evidence suggests that South Africa has been a willing accomplice in China's effort to weaken international human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive education is a key global agenda that is primarily driven by concern for children's rights. In China, the term is a translated, introduced, foreign concept. The localised practice of inclusion is encapsulated in the policy of Learning in Regular Classrooms, which not only adopts the narrow sense of inclusion for children with disabilities, but it is also dominated by the medical model of disability. An explicit rights-based philosophical foundation for inclusion that is widely accepted and internalised by local Chinese teachers and schools appears largely absent. This paper explores how Confucianism as a moral philosophy may be compatible with the rights discourse and may provide the necessary moral strengths and philosophical base to support inclusion in Chinese schools. The conclusion highlights the needs to pay attention to how teachers' deeper values, motivation, and drives can facilitate inclusive efforts, and also calls for a more explicit human rights discourse to develop in China in the long term. This paper explores the possibility of using the moral philosophy of Confucianism, rather than relying on the explicit language of human rights, to offer theoretical advocacy for inclusion in China. The rich legacy of Confucianism may offer the necessary moral strengths and philosophical convictions for Chinese teachers and schools to become inspired and empowered to take more inclusive initiatives in a bottom-up approach. Confucianism as a moral philosophy is compatible with the international human rights discourse. While a more explicit human rights discourse in China needs time to develop, Confucian principles such as datong (great harmony), ren (benevolence), as well as its educational believes and human rights ideas, may offer readily-available and more accessible inspiration and support for the inclusive education for children with disabilities in line with the social and human rights models. Re-examining traditional cultural values may shed light on modern effective teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China provides an extremely interesting contemporary case study for the international social work research community, given its questioning of the pertinence of the international definition of social work and stance in relation to the debates surrounding universalisation, internationalisation and indigenisation. This article begins by examining the evolving identity of Chinese social work, grounded as it is in China's political ideology and socio-cultural values. It then extends the debate on the paradoxical processes of universalisation, internationalisation and indigenisation within the international and Chinese social work discourse in light of the ascendance of Chinese culturalism. Finally, it addresses the impact of these interrelated processes on Chinese social work, as it struggled to adapt to the central government's political control of the developing profession and social project to train 1.45 million social workers by 2020. It argues that, to avoid the Scylla of escaping into tradition (culturalism) and Charybdis of absorption into the West (universalisation), Chinese social work has become a blend of Western and indigenised knowledge still in search of a unique identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveillance, China, Uyghurs, democracy, Human Rights Watch, digital repression, techno-authoritarianism, surveillance capitalism, dissent, social credit system In this interview with the I Bulletin i 's Dan Drollette Jr., Wang explains how she learned of what was going on, what technologies are being used, and the thinking behind its implementation on the part of the Chinese government - and how this techno-authoritarianism could be a taste of what is to come. Keywords: Surveillance; China; Uyghurs; digital repression; techno-authoritarianism; surveillance capitalism; democracy; Human Rights Watch; dissent; social credit system EN Surveillance China Uyghurs digital repression techno-authoritarianism surveillance capitalism democracy Human Rights Watch dissent social credit system 239 242 4 09/12/22 20220901 NES 220901 As readers may know from media exposés, the Chinese government has already implemented an authoritarian surveillance state in its province of Xinjiang, where the Uyghur Muslim minority is constantly subject to cameras, facial recognition algorithms, biometrics, abundant checkpoints, big data, and constant screening - making them live inside what some have called a "virtual cage.". [Extracted from the article]

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the People's Republic of China has been on a mission to break what it describes as 'Western hegemony' around global norms. Beijing is engaged in a struggle to strengthen its influence in global governance and has identified increasing China's 'discourse power' at the United Nations (UN) as key to achieving this goal. Focused on human rights, this paper examines China's project to enhance its discourse power at the UN. It assesses how successful Beijing has been in shaping language, concepts and norms at the UN and to what extent there has been a power shift in line with China's aspirations. It concludes that in China's efforts to enhance its power over meaning at the UN, it relies less on its powers of persuasion to effect what Barnett and Duvall term productive power and more on compulsory power. China's vision for global governance and its growing clout at the UN has great implications for international order. In essence, China seeks to reshape international norms so that human rights become each member state's 'internal affairs' rather than a legitimate concern of the international community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The People's Republic of China is central to current debates about power shifts in international organisations, but a systematic and comprehensive assessment of China‐related shifts has been missing. As Special Issue introduction, this article contributes to addressing this gap and examines whether, how and to what extent China‐related power shifts have unfolded at the United Nations (UN) over the last two decades or so. We define power shifts as changes in the ability of actors to shape others' capacities to act and outline a framework that builds on Barnett and Duvall's four power types of compulsory, institutional, structural and productive power. Drawing from Special Issue contributions, our analysis covers empirical insights from the UN's three main pillars – peace and security, development and human rights – and paints an uneven picture. Despite continuing Western dominance, China is mobilising more compulsory power means than two decades ago. Chinese attempts to enact institutional power have also increased but mostly unfold in multilateral niches and remain cautious. While China's structural power position has expanded, China‐related effects in productive power have so far remained limited and scattered. We conclude with a combined assessment of changes across power types and discuss research and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's growing human rights abuses have attracted the attention of the United Nations (UN) Special Procedures, a central mechanism of the UN's international human rights monitoring system. In response to this growing scrutiny, Beijing has deployed compulsory power through criticism of particular individuals serving as Special Procedure mandate holders and directed funding toward select mandates that align with China's interests; institutional power with repeated efforts to change the rules governing the work of the Special Procedures; and productive power by, for example, introducing the idea that there is a lack of diversity among those serving in the Special Procedures system. China's forceful language had some impact on particular actors, especially UN staff who sought to avoid Beijing's ire. At the same time, China's overall impact on this part of the UN remains modest as the Special Procedures continue to be able to act independently, have spoken out about China's abuses and the selection process has not been captured by Beijing. While there are other parts of the human rights regime where Beijing is able to shape norms, ideas, and procedures, thus far, the Special Procedures have been able to withstand the PRC's projection of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion is central to understanding when states enforce human rights abroad. Yet we do not have firm evidence regarding why individuals demand government action in some cases of human rights violations, but not others. I argue that economic interests and shared identity play important roles. I employ a pre-registered survey experiment in Turkey measuring the extent to which individuals support sanctioning China for its repressive policies against the minority Uyghur population. Results provide partial support for my hypotheses. The findings have implications for the question of international human rights enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to address the debate on universalism versus relativism regarding human rights over the case of China. By the end of the Cold War and with the increasing effects of globalization dynamics, the idea of human rights had become a controversial issue, and interventions in states that violate human rights have come to the agenda of international society. United States of America and the European Union have frequently mentioned the issue of human rights violations with regard to China. However, China has emphasized that no one should intervene with it on this issue, claiming up until the 1990s in the face of these allegations that the issue was its own internal affair. Meanwhile, China has tried to open a discussion about the universality of human rights through cultural values. China focuses on Asian values, claiming that human rights are a product of the Eurocentric Western modern world. This situation can be considered a challenge of postmodern and post-colonial theories that highlight cultural relativism, regarding the mainstream theories represented by realism and liberalism within the discipline of International Relations. However, using these critical theories may reproduce existing power relations by reducing them into a cultural context. This study seeks to reexamine China's human rights understanding beyond the universalism vs. relativism debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the 1990s, the United States has played the role of security guarantor in the Gulf, and despite prevailing concerns of American retrenchment, it retains a strong military footprint across the region. But China's emergence as a major player in the Gulf—with its geopolitical ambitions, thirst for foreign oil, and attractive offer of business and investment with a "look the other way" policy on human rights—has stoked fears about the eclipse of American power. While the Gulf remains of strategic importance to the US global strategy, Washington's readjustment of its regional goals suggests that it is recalibrating. Drawing on the literature of foreign policy change, this analysis uses three case studies to examine Washington's recalibration toward the Gulf under the Biden presidency: US engagement with the Iran nuclear deal, US defense agreements with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and US‐GCC tech relations, specifically tensions with China over the use of Huawei technology. This article is part of a special issue on the responses of Gulf countries to rising Sino‐American competition, edited by Andrea Ghiselli, Anoushiravan Ehteshami, and Enrico Fardella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although numerous studies have analyzed the ways in which migration influences the life chances of adult immigrants and social inequalities, the association of parental migration with the equality of life chances of left-behind children is unclear. These explorations are important for understanding how opportunity inequalities may evolve into health inequalities and how to promote the equal development of children. This study examined the association between the left-behind experience and the equality of life chances in emerging adulthood among a rural Chinese population. A total of 849 rural Chinese young adults completed questionnaires about the migration of their parents and their living conditions and were assigned to several groups according to gender and type of parents' migration. With non-left-behind children as a reference group, the chance of first marriage was significantly higher for women in the absence of their fathers (HR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.28–5.13; HR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.01–4.12) than for men (HR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.28–0.90; HR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.28–0.98). Both men (HR = 2.88, 95% CI = 1.39–5.93; HR = 1.80, 95% CI = 8.76) and women (HR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.09–2.20) had a significantly higher chance of achieving upward educational mobility in the absence of a mother. The chance of finding the first job remained statistically non-significant during the whole analysis. This study found that the childhood left-behind experience was partially associated with life chances in emerging adulthood among the Chinese rural population. These findings linked left-behind experiences in childhood to unequal chances in emerging adulthood. Thus, policy-makers should be encouraged to create an equal and fair social environment. Highlights: The migration of fathers changed the chance of children's marriage, which was manifested in advancing the marriage time of women and delaying the marriage time of men. The migration of mothers can increase the chances of upward educational mobility for both women and men. This study suggested that the Chinese government should create a fair growth environment and reduce socioeconomic inequalities in emerging adulthood for left-behind children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note describes the restraint which will be needed for China and the US to embrace and sustain the kind of détente which dramatically thawed relations between the US and Soviet Union. For the United States, the restraint that is needed is to step back from demanding recognition of its continued primacy; Washington should recognize that China is no longer prepared to be just a rule-taker, but is determined to be a major player in international rule-making. For China restraint is necessary partly because its recently reasserted territorial claims over the South China Sea are indefensible in international law, and also because it has recently played a much more active spoiling role on human rights issues than it did in the past. Australia, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, have an important role to play in encouraging the US and China to do what is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. This study was designed to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership on challenge-oriented citizenship behaviors and examine the mediating role of organizational justice on the relationship between inclusive leadership and challenge-oriented citizenship behaviors among nurses. Background. Leaders exhibiting an inclusive leadership style have the potential to create a positive work climate and motivate members of the organization. However, the mechanisms by which organizational justice contributes to this process remain to be explored, particularly in terms of how it motivates challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors. Method. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among nurses in China at the end period of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 527 registered nurses were enrolled and completed the self-report questionnaires including inclusive leadership scale, organizational justice scale, and challenge-oriented citizenship behavior scale. The hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression analyses and structural equation modelling. Results. The results of empirical tests revealed that nurse leader's inclusive leadership had a positive relationship on nurses' challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (β = 0.823, p < 0.001) after controlling several demographic covariates. Meanwhile, inclusive leadership was positively linked to organizational justice (β = 0.747, p < 0.001), and the indirect effect of inclusive leadership on nurses' challenge-oriented citizenship behaviors through organizational justice was statistically significant (β = 0.641, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the model fit indices were χ2/df = 1.952, RMSEA = 0.043, CFI = 0.979, and TLI = 0.977, indicating that the model had high quality. Conclusion. This study could help nurse leaders with inclusive leadership style have a better understanding and taking the advantages of the influence mechanism of organizational justice in inspiring nurses' challenge-oriented citizenship behaviors. While nurse managers can inspire challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors through inclusive leadership, they should also emphasize the evaluative and behavioral-shaping effects of organizational justice. Both leadership and organizational justice are essential to motivate challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors and to foster organizational development. Moreover, managers should focus on the process and conditions of implementing organizational justice to ensure fairness within the organization and to create a conducive environment for challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, women with disabilities are one of the main victims of human trafficking against women. The victims of abducting crimes and the buyers are both concentrated in rural areas, which implicit profound social and cultural causes. Demographic and social-culture factors under the influence of patriarchal ideology and marriage squeeze have jointly caused the crimes, while China's urbanization and poverty in rural areas deeply affected the lives of women with disabilities and protection against trafficking and other crimes. This study examines the influencing factors of trafficking in women in China and the inadequacies of social support and care for disabled women in anti-trafficking. Furthermore, this study recommends a set of countermeasures and suggestions on the aspects of social support and assistance for the prevention, timely rescue, and elimination of crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines why 23 Muslim-majority countries supported China at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN/HRC) in 2019, despite allegations of human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Using a fuzzy-set qualitative-comparative analysis (fsQCA), we compared the factors that led Muslim-majority and non-Muslim countries to support China. Our analysis found that Political Regime Affinity (PRA) was a necessary but not a sufficient condition for Muslim-majority countries to support China, while China's Foreign Aid (ODA) was a necessary but not sufficient condition for non-Muslim countries. These findings suggest that ideological factors, related to the autocratic political regime (PRA), played a significant role in Muslim-majority countries' decision to support China in the UN/HRC in 2019. However, it is important to note that other factors may have also been involved. These findings have important implications for understanding the complexities of international relations and the factors that shape states behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the implementation of the right to adequate housing in Brazil, China, and Russia, which are part of the BRICS group of countries. The study reveals that while Brazil and Russia have legally recognised the right to housing through domestic law and multinational human rights treaties, China has been less willing to do so. Even when international instruments have been implemented, they have not always successfully ensured state accountability for housing rights violations, and few cases have been brought under individual complaint procedures. This study highlights common housing issues faced by each jurisdiction in the practical implementation of the right to housing, which are similar to those encountered by other countries but are often more severe due to the economic, political, and historical circumstances of the countries under review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the legal and social impacts of China's policies on its minority populations, focusing on the recent legislation related to ecological protection and its implications for nomadic communities. It highlights the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law, which aims to preserve the region's ecosystems but could negatively affect local herding rights. It discusses China's denial of Indigenous Peoples' status and international responses to human rights concerns in Tibet.

When different entities (actors) accept a certain norm or a particular agreement about normative principles, they are likely to have an overlapping but not necessarily fully shared understanding of the given norm. This article theorises and assesses the strength of such normative overlaps in international politics. It conceptualises normative overlaps as normative congruences across and within political orders. It follows a norm's connection to constitutional layers of political orders (congruences within orders) and the way these constitutional layers of political orders, among which the norm is shared, overlap (congruences across orders). To do so, it builds upon and interconnects the literature on norms, especially norm diffusion, and the English School and constructivist literature on the composition of international order. The theoretical framework is utilised to analyse how China fits into the liberal international society, especially when it comes to human rights (HR) and humanitarian protection. The effect of the normative overlaps in this realm is China's active engagement with the liberal HR regime, however, without deeper convergence or socialisation. The limits of convergence are underpinned by significant differences between the Chinese developmentalist and liberal conceptions of the moral purpose of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known on the subject?: Physical restraint is widely used in the elderly at home, and cognitive impairment is an important risk factor. Family caregivers of people with dementia are the main decision makers and implementers of physical restraint at home.Most people with dementia in China receive home care, and family caregivers face enormous care and moral pressures influenced by Confucian culture.Current research on physical restraints focuses on quantitative analysis of its prevalence and reasons within the institutions. There is little research on how family caregivers perceive physical restraints in home care context, especially under Chinese culture. What the paper adds to existing knowledge?: Many family caregivers face approach – avoidance conflict and moral dilemmas when making decisions to restrain, and they make difficult choices in these dilemmas.In China, family caregivers are influenced by many unique factors, including traditional Confucian culture, family affection, and rural home environment.Inadequate laws and policies provide the ground for abuse of physical restraints, and family caregivers rarely consider legal and policy restrictions when using physical restraints. What are the implications for practice?: With limited medical resources, nurse‐led dementia management is the hope to reduce physical restraints in home.Mental health nurses need to assess for the appropriateness of physical restraints associated with psychiatric symptoms in people with dementia.At both organizational and community levels, improving effective communication and relationships between professionals and family caregivers are important to address. Improvements in this context require education and time for staff to develop skills and experience which is necessary to provide family caregivers with ongoing information and psychological support within their communities.Considering Confucian culture will be of value for mental health nurses working in other countries where there are Chinese communities to better understand perceptions of family caregivers. Introduction: The use of physical restraints is a common practice in home care. Family caregivers face care‐related and moral pressures due to the influence of Confucian culture in China. The use of physical restraints in the Chinese cultural environment may differ from the use of such restraints in other cultures. Scientific Rationale: Current research on physical restraints focuses on quantitative analysis of its prevalence and reasons within the institutions. However, there is little research on how family caregivers perceive physical restraints in home care context, especially under Chinese culture. Aim: To explore the perceptions of family caregivers on physical restraints in people diagnosed with dementia receiving home care. Method: A descriptive, qualitative study of Chinese family caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia in home care. Framework method analysis was adopted using the multilevel socio‐ecological model. Results: Beliefs about benefit lead to a dilemma for family caregivers. Cherishing family's affection encourages caregivers to reduce physical restraints, but lack of help from family members, professionals and the community forces them to restrain their loved ones. Discussion: Future research should explore the complex issue of culturally specific physical restraints decisions. Implications for Practice: Mental health nurses must receive education regarding the negative outcomes of the use of physical restraints for family members of people diagnosed with dementia. A more liberal approach to mental health and relevant legislation, which is an emerging global phenomenon that is currently in an early phase of development in China, grants human rights to people diagnosed with dementia. Effective communication and relationships between professionals and family caregivers can contribute to the establishment of a dementia‐friendly community in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African migrants in China are being subjected to precarious human rights abuse arising from the state repression and racial discriminations, which came to the spotlight during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the international media bodies and the social media reported cases of xenophobic attacks on African nationals in China during the coronavirus outbreak, there exist inadequate empirical documentation and systematic analysis of the incidents by scholars. Thus, the study examined the nexus between human rights violations and xenophobic attacks on African migrants in China during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Methodologically, we adopted the state repression theory as our theoretical framework; ex-post facto research design; documentary method of data collection; and qualitative descriptive method of data analysis. The study found that China's disregard for the human rights of African migrants accounted for the xenophobic attacks on African community in China during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study recommended among others that there is the need for Chinese state to implement legislations and policies that will protect and safeguard the human rights of African migrants in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adds to the literature by identifying the effect of home ownership on rural-to-urban older migrants' labour market participation in China. Using the 2016 wave of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we find that older migrants who do not own houses are more likely to participate in the labour market than home owners. To alleviate endogeneity caused by the potential sample selection problem, the propensity score matching method is employed. Our results imply that home ownership can be used as a type of precautionary/retirement savings for older migrants, especially for the ones lacking in financial security. We also show that older migrants owning houses with a higher level of liquidity are less likely to participate in the labour market. It indicates that liquidity may significantly affect the effectiveness for older migrants to use home ownership as precautionary/retirement savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines the development of China's barrier-free screening. It indicates how Chinese film professionals understand cinema accessibility, what efforts they have undertaken to put their awareness into practice, the problems arising and the corresponding initiatives for solutions. I argue that the film professionals' understanding is now shifting from guaranteeing the equal rights of persons with disabilities to offering them equal treatment in cinematic entertainment. The challenge is that the professionals still focus on updating theatre facilities and screening technologies particularly for blind persons but do not have an overall plan for improving the inclusivity of screenings. A solution is to design a theatre assistant app that allows persons with and without disabilities to enjoy watching films together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment quota is one of the affirmative action measures, outlined by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its General Comment, to increase the employment of disabled people in both public and private sectors. Existing literature has studied the implementation, outcome, and effectiveness of the employment quota, majorly by quantitative data, while the empirical evidence of how it influences the right of disabled people to work is relatively limited. The practice of employment quota in China suggests the possibility of underpinning discrimination and exclusion and thus puts disabled people in a more disadvantageous position. This paper empirically examines how the discriminatory effect of the employment quota is shaped, with a particular focus on the interaction between the quota policies and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental migration from rural to cities in China is causing millions of children to be left behind or to live without parental care, support, and guidance, which violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This national phenomenon has consequences for the household registration system, known as the hukou system, which is meant to restrain internal migration. These consequences may result in economic and social imbalances. However, a noticeable number of children have been completely or partially left behind by their parents in villages, and as a result, their relationship with their parents and their academic attainment are weak. In particular, this study examines whether migrant parents can improve the academic performance of their Left-Behind Children (LBC) by strengthening their relationship with their children or by sending adequate remittances to the village household. Astonishingly, the structural equation model (SEM) results indicate that LBCs from both parents migrating households are the more privileged groups, although the study underlines that still, all LBC are disadvantaged compared to non-LBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal's role in protecting fundamental rights under China's One Country Two Systems practice. It starts by giving an account of the constitutional and legal framework for Hong Kong's judicial protection of human rights. It examines the Court's efforts in obtaining constitutional jurisdiction, employing generous interpretation approach to rights guarantees, reforming standards such as proportionality and reasonableness for scrutinising rights restrictions, and broadening reference inputs by comparative approach and amicus curiae for interpretation of rights provisions. It indicates that through these ways the CFA has developed freedom-friendly common law constitutionalism and formed judicial preferences in favour of personal liberty. It advocates that the so-called conservative performance of the CFA on rights issues in national security cases may be its efforts to secure judicial independence and the common law system in a changing political climate. The article posits that due to the CFA's strong foundation in judicial protection of human rights, and its recent efforts to incorporate national security law into common law, it is well-positioned to play a crucial role in preserving the way of life for Hong Kong residents as China's Hong Kong policy enters a new era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marrakesh Treaty entered into force in China on May 5, 2022. To fulfill its obligations and guarantee basic education access for visually impaired people, China revised its copyright law and introduced supporting measures for Treaty implementation. This article discusses various issues in designing a legal system for achieving 'intangible accessible environments' for visually impaired people in China and the priorities and possible shortcomings in transforming the Marrakesh Treaty into domestic law. Legislation must carefully avoid using specialized over-protection designs that could exacerbate the marginalization and social isolation of visually impaired people. Furthermore, it is crucial to refine the supporting system for Treaty implementation and strengthen sectoral synergies and international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria is one of the top countries of China's outward foreign direct investments in energy and power projects to meet the needs of China's fast-growing energy-intensive industries. Following several risks faced by investors to invest in countries with high levels of regulatory, judicial and political uncertainties that appeared in most African states, including Nigeria, contracting parties often take steps to advance and enhance their investment relations and investment climate through an agreement or bilateral investment treaties. This paper examines the China–Nigeria Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and the investment arbitration framework in place in the energy sector. It includes a general analysis on China–African BITs and features common difficulties and possible ways of addressing them. It analyzes the adequacy or otherwise of these frameworks and the various protections afforded to the contracting parties or the host state and the investors. It contends that the current China–Nigeria BIT is lacking essential environmental and social aspects, including sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, transparency and respect for the human rights of host communities, for the promotion of better China–Nigeria investment relations. Notwithstanding the fact that there has not been any known energy dispute in China–Nigeria-related projects, this paper calls for the need for an effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism to address future disputes between the parties, in order to promote a favorable investment climate for Chinese (and international) investors willing to invest in Nigeria. It advocates that the China–Nigeria BIT should be unambiguous and well drafted to cover issues that could best address investment disputes in the energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research project set out to study how Chinese international students in the United Kingdom understand human rights principles. The principal method involved semi-structured interviews which were primarily intended as an exploratory exercise giving participants the opportunity to voice their views on human rights. The discussions were explicitly centered on participants' own definitions and understandings. The interviews coincided with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite holding conflicted views on the subject, most participants sought to legitimize China's human rights record. While their reactions echo Stanley Cohen's acclaimed study of human rights denial, sufficient distinction needs to be made between state actors' denial and citizen denial. Participants' struggle to trust foreign media reports, their reappraisal of their circumstances during the pandemic and their lack of exposure to human rights abuse acted as barriers in acknowledging China's human rights violations. These findings highlight the need for an inclusive pedagogy which is capable of accommodating the various iterations of the imagined community through which expatriate Chinese students view human rights criticism targeted at China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Purpose] To examine the origin and evolution of China's social credit system. [Methodology/Approach/Design] A doctrinal approach is employed with secondary sources. [Findings] China's social credit system has some adverse effects on the fundamental principles of international human rights law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of increasing People's Republic of China (PRC) influence within the US Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR), the United States must adopt innovative approaches to maintain its strategic advantage and strengthen international partnerships. One potent tool is the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Program, which promotes the inclusion of women in peace and security efforts globally. AFSOUTH, the Air Component of SOUTHCOM, exemplifies the successful implementation of WPS principles, fostering lasting relationships with partner nation air forces. By identifying barriers and sharing best practices related to gender perspectives, AFSOUTH enhances opportunities for half of partner nation populations in a non-escalatory and transparent manner. Such commitment to democratic values and human rights strengthens existing relationships and positions the United States as a leader in WPS initiatives, contrasting the PRC's limited efforts in this realm. Through continued progress in implementing WPS, the United States can further solidify its strategic position and promote cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the evolution of surveillance in China, emphasizing the state's unprecedented embrace of advanced technologies for social control, with implications for governance, human rights, and international relations. It delves into the concept of "surveillance bricolage," where various technologies and practices are combined to form a comprehensive surveillance apparatus, shedding light on the totalitarian surveillance system orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party.

Efforts to set standards for artificial intelligence (AI) reveal striking patterns: technical experts hailing from geopolitical rivals, such as the United States and China, readily collaborate on technical AI standards within transnational standard‐setting organizations, whereas governments are much less willing to collaborate on global ethical AI standards within international organizations. Whether competition or cooperation prevails can be explained by three variables: the actors that make up the membership of the standard‐setting organization, the issues on which the organization's standard‐setting efforts focus, and the "games" actors play when trying to set standards within a particular type of organization. A preliminary empirical analysis provides support for the contention that actors, issues, and games affect the prospects for cooperation on global AI standards. It matters because shared standards are vital for achieving truly global frameworks for the governance of AI. Such global frameworks, in turn, lower transaction costs and the probability that the world will witness the emergence of AI systems that threaten human rights and fundamental freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a newly created international institution, provides an opportunity to study the extent and efficacy of rights protection against the backdrop of human rights criticism directed at other multilateral development banks (MDBs). The analytical framework is formed by the so-called anticipatory institution-building positing that international organisations adopt safeguards without external pressure due to having learnt from the mistakes of peer organisations. The article explores the context in which China created the AIIB and the ensuing expectations regarding its environmental and social safeguards. Specific institutional traits gear the Bank towards being 'lean, clean and green' while simultaneously formally paying due regard to environmental and social risks in development lending. The investigation of the Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) reveals that it largely resembles the operational safeguards of other MDBs while still being a 'work in progress'. It is argued that rights protection remains trapped between institutional infancy problems and principled indifference. Efficiency prevails over protection, the applicability of the ESF is fragmented, central rights receive inadequate protection, and accountability mechanisms remain untested. While the ESF review will remedy some of the shortcomings, infrastructure lending cannot completely do away with adverse environmental and social impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the critical moment when the idea of equality entered international law. The article argues that a political claim to equality of all human beings surfaced at the international level already in the 1920s and 1930s, long before human rights were discussed at the United Nations. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), established in 1919, provided the venue for delegates from non-European countries or territories—most of them confronting some form of colonialism—to raise their voices against the exploitation of labour in India, China and other places under the domination of colonial powers. The delegates' idea of equality was present in arguments attacking racial hierarchies and in arguments criticizing unequal treatment in 'native labour' relations. The universalistic idea of the equal worth of all human beings and the idea of equal treatment was advanced to de-legitimize narrow concepts of equality based on race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing multipolarity in international affairs together with the rise of non-state actors do require us to re-think what constitutes sustainable development, in general, but also how economic growth can be respectful of the environment and individual rights. The People's Republic of China (China) does constitute an important part of that story. This paper aims to analyse China's discourse, laws, and policies on sustainable development at both national and international levels. It situates sustainable development in the broader context of China's current development policy; addresses the ways in which China engages with multilateral and bilateral institutions (i.e. legal instruments) in the area of sustainable development; as well as assesses the scope and limitations of China's focus on sustainable development in the context of Outward Foreign Direct Investment in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]