Engagement and Human Rights in China
             With the great advancement of China’s economy and foreign trade relations within the last twenty years, one cannot help notice a simultaneous increase in Chinese human rights. Naturally, the question of whether the rights have stemmed from trade relations or the trade relations have developed out of greater human rights in China has come up for debate. The prevalent view of the country’s stance is that foreign nations’ humanitarian concerns for China have resulted from the obligations of all the investors in China. In other words, the human rights issue has been used as a bargaining chip by other countries after developing a strong economic tie. China has considered the fulfillment of basic economic needs a priority over the amendment of human rights abuses. This position has allowed China to further its economic ties, but at the same time, has allowed for neglect in the human rights sector that China still struggles to overcome.
             China has spent over twenty years focused on its goal of building a strong economy. The drive for economic growth replaced the revolutionary zeal advocated for so long by Mao Zedong, and obvious changes have resulted from this new motivation. Despite the instability of the first few years after 1979, a cautious economic optimism has prevailed. The huge trade deficits of 1981 and 1982 have led to some conscious efforts in the early 1980s at strengthening the economy--namely, a cut back on investments, a termination of expensive foreign contracts, a slimming of the domestic budget, and a replacement of the trade deficit by strong export policies. These early actions helped prompt a trade surplus of $6.2 billion in 1982 and $5.3 billion in 1983 (Spence 663). Also, China’s potential for trade relations was evident by a total foreign investment of $910 million in 1983 and $1.05 billion in international loans (Spence 668). In the beginn...