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LETTER TO CHINA, AN EMERGING GREAT POWERChina is on the cusp of becoming a great power once again. But the definition of greatness has changed since the last time China was great. Military and economic power still count, but to be respected as a great power today, a country must also demonstrate moral leadership. China not only signed but also occupies a position within the UN that is supposed to lead the other nations to respect the UN Convention on Refugees, which clearly states, "No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion." You know that "life or freedom" of the North Korean Christians you repatriate will be "threatened on account of... religion" in North Korea. You also know that the "life" of the unborn babies carried by pregnant North Korean women will not only be "threatened" but terminated upon repatriation. You claim that you ask the Kim Jong Il regime to stop imprisoning and killing repatriated Christians and babies. Until that regime listens to you, your signature on the Convention compels you to not repatriate them. And no Convention is needed to condemn the sexual enslavement and trafficking of North Korean women and girls. To demonstrate that China is a modern nation and not an accomplice to Kim Jong Il's crimes against humanity, please stop arresting and repatriating North Korean refugees, and let the UN High Commission on Refugees go to the border region so that it can help and resettle the refugees in South Korea. If you want China to be hailed as a great nation, demonstrate greatness. Magnanimously grant amnesty to the North Korean refugees already in China, announce an assistance and resettlement program in cooperation with UNHCR, and severe punishments for anyone caught enslaving or trafficking women and girls. The greatness of a country is measured by how it welcomes not the most privileged guests on its soil, but the least privileged and the most vulnerable. |