China’s Position Regarding Kuwait’s Human Rights Issue
China’s Position Regarding Kuwait’s Human Rights Issue
After its liberation from Irap’s invasion (known as the Gulf War) in 1990, the Gulf country Kuwait becomes more active in establishing a positive and contributory global identity (Terri Willis, Kuwait). Notably, its foreign policy is improved. Kuwaiti foreign policy, in compliance of principles enshrined in international treaties and laws, is governed by its belief in mutual respect, equality and non-interference in internal affairs of other nations. It aims at maintaining Kuwait’s independence and sovereignty of its lands, wealth and its people. Besides, it advocates a world which rejects aggression and terrorism and respects human rights (Kuwait Foreign Policy and Government Guide, 2003). But attention, please! After the introduction of Kuwaiti foreign policy principles and goals, don’t be too optimistic about what these papers say. This essay will not talk about once the heated Irap and Kuwait dispute but discuss the human rights issue in Kuwait and state China’s position regarding this issue. Whether does Kuwait respect human rights as it advocates in its foreign policy? To draw a safe conclusion, it is better to track two groups of people in Kuwait at first. The first group is refugees and internally displaced people, namely 93,000 stateless persons (2012). Kuwait 's 1959 Nationality Law defined citizens as persons who settled in the country before 1920 and who had maintained normal residence since then; descendants of Bedouin tribes, ranking one-third of the population, thus had no opportunity to register for nationality rights after Kuwait’s independence,1961. Since the 1980s, this group have been gradually deprived of their rights, including opportunities for employment and education. What’s worse, Kuwaiti authorities have delayed processing citizenship applications and labeled them as “illegal residents”. In 2011, these stateless persons launched several demonstrations for the recognition of
After its liberation from Irap’s invasion (known as the Gulf War) in 1990, the Gulf country Kuwait becomes more active in establishing a positive and contributory global identity (Terri Willis, Kuwait). Notably, its foreign policy is improved. Kuwaiti foreign policy, in compliance of principles enshrined in international treaties and laws, is governed by its belief in mutual respect, equality and non-interference in internal affairs of other nations. It aims at maintaining Kuwait’s independence and sovereignty of its lands, wealth and its people. Besides, it advocates a world which rejects aggression and terrorism and respects human rights (Kuwait Foreign Policy and Government Guide, 2003). But attention, please! After the introduction of Kuwaiti foreign policy principles and goals, don’t be too optimistic about what these papers say. This essay will not talk about once the heated Irap and Kuwait dispute but discuss the human rights issue in Kuwait and state China’s position regarding this issue. Whether does Kuwait respect human rights as it advocates in its foreign policy? To draw a safe conclusion, it is better to track two groups of people in Kuwait at first. The first group is refugees and internally displaced people, namely 93,000 stateless persons (2012). Kuwait 's 1959 Nationality Law defined citizens as persons who settled in the country before 1920 and who had maintained normal residence since then; descendants of Bedouin tribes, ranking one-third of the population, thus had no opportunity to register for nationality rights after Kuwait’s independence,1961. Since the 1980s, this group have been gradually deprived of their rights, including opportunities for employment and education. What’s worse, Kuwaiti authorities have delayed processing citizenship applications and labeled them as “illegal residents”. In 2011, these stateless persons launched several demonstrations for the recognition of
References: Willis, Terri. (2007). Kuwait. New York: Children 's Press. International Business Publications, USA. (2003). Kuwait Foreign Policy and Government Guide. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People 's Republic of China, PRC. (1994). Overview of China 's Diplomacy. Beijing: World Affairs Press. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/search/results/?q=kuwait&search=Go http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/taxonomy/term/119 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html?fieldkey=2194&alphaletter=R&term=Refugees%20and%20internally%20displaced%20persons