(July 4, 2011) Probe International’s Patricia Adams joined a Business News Network (BNN) panel to discuss the dangers of corporations wishing to do business in China given its poor human rights record.
BNN, July 4, 2011
In light of the recent release from prison of two notable Chinese dissidents Ai Weiwei and Hu Jia, who have since been barred from media interviews and speaking out against the ruling Communist Party, BNN journalist Paul Waldie asks: “Has China’s human rights really improved and how are businesses approaching the issue?”.
Joining Patricia Adams in this discussion were: Pitman Potter, a UBC law professor and celebrated China scholar, and Dr. David Fung, chairman and CEO of the ACDEG Group of companies and vice-chair of the Canada China Business Council.
From the discussion, it emerged that the best way to help China move towards human rights is through engagement and institution building – in particular, establishing the rule of law. The citizens of China and its learned scholars are pushing for the rule of law, says Ms. Adams, but judges are essentially “carrying out telephone justice” – depriving the people of fair hearings and acting on whatever the Communist Party instructs them to do.
Both Ms. Adams and Prof. Potter agreed that the absence of the rule of law in China affects not just human rights and democracy activists, but foreign corporations too, who will not be able to rely on laws and an impartial judicial system to enforce contracts and settle disputes.
Categories: Corruption, Probe International in the News, Rule of Law, Three Gorges Probe
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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Probe International 
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again………..beyond all the so-called “experts” who are known as “Economists” , when Canadian Industries move out of Canada and re-locate in China the only positive thing is the huge amount of profits that end up in the companies owners pockets.everything else about the move is a negative. Loss of jobs at home, less than good quality products replacing at one time a “Canadian Made” product that was world renown, and the worst of all, catering to a country with such a dismal human rights record that nobody I know would even want to visit China let alone live there!
Welcome to the New World, where ethics are missing in business along with any sign of “humanity”