Is it fair to say that “China” violates human rights? Or is it better to say that the “Chinese government” violates human rights? What about the United States–should we say the “United States” violates human rights? Or should we say the “United States government” violates human rights?
I would argue that, because the United States is a democracy, it’s fair to say the “United States violates human rights.” Americans have a say in choosing their leaders. If they repeatedly choose leaders who enact policies that violate human rights, it’s not unfair to attribute human rights violations to the American people, at least to some degree.
But, because Chinese people don’t have a say in their leaders, it is unfair to say “China violates human rights.” Instead, it is more accurate, and more fair, to say the “Chinese government violates human rights.”
What about positive behavior? Is it fair to write that “China sent a person to space,” or that the “United States sent a person to space”? Or, to use a more current example, “China built a hospital in ten days”? (Can’t say the same for the United States just yet, though field hospitals seem a possibility.)
I think the answer for both China and the United States is yes. Ordinary Chinese and Americans should get the credit for good things done by their respective countries, because such good things almost certainly couldn’t have been done without the efforts and sacrifices of people having no significant government links.
The general principle then, is this. People in democracies should get blame for bad things done by their government (especially governments they voted for), and credit for the good things. People in non-democracies should only get credit, but not blame. In the context of China and the U.S., this principle can hardly be called racist or anti-China. If anything, it hurts ordinary Americans and helps ordinary Chinese. Americans get the blame for bad things done by their government, and credit for good things. Chinese people only get credit, but not blame.
You might be tempted to argue that Chinese people deserve blame for their government’s human rights violations because they haven’t revolted in an effort to prevent them. I don’t think that’s fair, and is akin to blaming slaves for not revolting against slave owners. It’s asking too much, given human nature.
Adhering to this principle should also reduce the tendency of Chinese people to react negatively to stories critical of the Chinese government. To anyone paying attention, there has been a pronounced rise in Chinese nationalism in the last several years. Though the Chinese government is mostly responsible for that, it doesn’t help when commentators in democratic countries write things like “China violates human rights.” To a Chinese reader, that is easily construed as a personal accusation, and understandably triggers a nationalistic response. But if the commentator had just written something like “the Chinese government violates human rights,” that puts more distance between the reader and the accusation, which lessens the nationalistic instinct.
Thus, to anyone who cares about fairness and accuracy in language, and who cares about China, stop, for the love of God, writing that “China violates human rights.”