I remember quite some time ago, sitting with a friend discussing China and North Korea, and trying to decide which country was in more need of democratic reform. It was an interesting discussion but given the time I had spent in China, and he had spent in South Korea, it was inevitable that we would reach our own conclusions - him believing North Korea to be in more need of reform and me thinking it was China.
Last week North Korea launched a missile to simply 'test' them out. I suppose I can see their point - why buy the car if you’re not going to drive it?
That being said, which country would I reform first? The answer is a simple one - China. Why? Sure, it’s also a Communist dictatorship. And yes, they also have a terrible human rights record, but at least they've never launched missiles and besides, they have KFC and McDonalds!
So what is it about harmless, Wal-Mart-shopping KFC-eating China that makes me feel it needs reform first? The road to North Korea runs through China - both literally and metaphorically. The truth is, when North Korea launched their missiles, I wasn’t interested in the anti-nuke rhetoric of Britain and America because deep down I knew that they could not stop it on their own - for that they would need the support of China.
Imagine for one moment we had real democracy in China, a China that valued human rights and freedom. In such a case, North Korea would be practically isolated in the Pacific Rim and would eventually, perhaps inevitably, adopt human rights as well.
China has spread their Communist ideology to Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. Maybe their next export could be human rights.
WORDS BY BEN ALBRIGHT
PHOTOGRAPH BY TIM ARIN
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