Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue:A902-W583

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A902-W583

Release Date: November 23, 2015

发布日：2015年11月23日

Topic: Free Trade and Human Rights in China -- Wei Jingsheng's Speech at CATO Institute's Policy Forum on China

标题：自由贸易与中国人权 -- 魏京生在卡托研究所的中国政策论坛上的讲话

Original Language Version: English (Chinese version at the end)

此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

Note: Please use "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)" encoding to view the Chinese parts of this release. If this mail does not display properly in your email program, please send your request for special delivery to us or visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2015/report2015-11/WeiJSspeech151123atCATOinstitueA902-W583.htm　which contains identical information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Free Trade and Human Rights in China

-- Wei Jingsheng's Speech at CATO Institute's Policy Forum on China

On November 23, 2015, a policy forum was held in the Hayek Auditorium of the Cato Institute featuring guest speakers Chen Guangcheng, Wei Jingsheng, Teng Biao, with comments by Xia Yeliang, and moderated by Ian Vasquez of the CATO Institute. The title of the forum was: "The Deteriorating State of Human Rights in China.”

Before the forum, Peter Goettler, president and CEO of the Cato Institute, and David Boaz, the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, met with the speakers. Later, Professor Xia, visiting fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity of the Cato Institute, gave a very informative tour and introduction of the widely known and respected think tank to the guest speakers and their associates.

In addition to the attendees, the event also was broadcast alive on Internet. After the forum, speakers received many different forms of interviews. All the attendees were treated with a lunch and had some social time afterwards.

The following is Wei Jingsheng's speech at the forum.

__ __ __

Free Trade and Human Rights in China

-- Wei Jingsheng

November 23, 2015

I want to express my gratitude to the Cato Institute and Professor Xia Yeliang for giving me this opportunity to talk about China's issues.

In the US, there are a lot of businessmen, especially those businessmen who like to invest in China or other authoritarian states, do not like human rights. They believe the demand for these countries to improve human rights would make a negative impact on their business. This is a great misunderstanding, or a one-sided view.

They secretly support dictatorships' violation of human rights, thinking that it can ensure their getting cheap labor and thus super-high profits from selling the cheap goods in normal developed markets. In the past few decades, their strategy has been realized. They helped China to undermine the normal market order of the international trade. There are a large number of capitalists who got rich, while more people fell into relative poverty at the same time. This has made the gap between rich and poor increase rapidly around the world, and pushed the world gradually into an unstable state.

Why is this so?

First of all, cheap labor makes a slow growth of purchasing power in China and other authoritarian states where these profit came from. Most of the value produced becomes the financial wealth of the rich and government revenues in these countries, and supports unusual prosperity in the financial markets and an arms race. Its consequences could be simply put this way: the growth of money is far greater than the growth of the purchasing power, the growth of goods is far greater than the growth of the market. Such an economy must rely on others' markets to be maintained. In other words: to treat others' markets as colonies by exploiting these markets to sustain the rapid economic growth and ultra-high profits.

This kind of economic model inevitably provides a very small market for the products produced for itself and other undeveloped countries. Thus it is necessary to maintain a large trade deficit in order to maintain the operation of the economic model with low human rights standards. In order to maintain a large trade deficit, it must use various means to disrupt the normal market order, including the manipulation of currency, falsified data, various non-trade barriers, and cleverly avoiding international law arbitration, and so on.

Secondly, the countries with free-market economies cannot maintain order with their own domestic laws. Thus, while they let cheap goods from the countries with low human rights flood their own markets they are unable to enter others' markets equally. This results in production declines and slow growth of purchasing power, and has to rely on borrowing from financial markets to sustain consumption. It is like a person's blood getting gradually drained, so the body is constantly weakening. And it is not just a weakening of the economy, but a comprehensive weakening of all aspects.

The reason for the uneven balance of the trade between the markets of these two types of countries is because their trade is not carried out in the same type of market, with same type of conditions. That is an unfair trade. The main reason causing this unfairness is because the societies that the market is relying on are not the same, as well as the legal and human rights protections are not the same. It is like a reasonable man dealing with a rogue without precaution. In this case, the reasonable man will suffer.

Many businessmen insist that businessmen only need to care about making money, which is not associated with human rights although there may be some association with laws. From the perspective that they make money for themselves, they may be right. But viewing from the country and the market as a whole, this statement is wrong. When these businessmen make money from the market differences, both societies are hurt. Not only are these societies hurt economically, but people's lives also are hurt. It is unfair and unethical trade that must be controlled by the state.

In the bilateral trade between China and the United States, business people are in different legal and social environments. In the United States, they are subject to be treated fairly by law. In China, they face unfair treatment in law and human rights. They must balance this unfairness in accordance with Chinese law and order. Thus, unlawful behavior such as bribery became the new order. This new order polluted the politics and society in China, and will inevitably spread to the politics and society in the United States. At the same time, it also brings a potential illegal and unstable threat to the existence of these businessmen.

What is law? The first and foremost of the law is to protect individual rights, including property rights. Without the protection of human rights and property rights, commerce will lose its order and become purely speculation, with high risk. This classical speculative business and trade does not meet the needs of a modern economy. It is also a factor of destruction for a modern economy that has been developed in a more orderly fashion. Unless there is a change of the political and legal systems to make them more equal, only through legislation in the individual country may one control and thus balance the trade between the markets of different legal systems. Only through eliminating the influence of destructive factors one might reach fairness and balance.

Otherwise, the speculative prosperity of a few countries will bring the global recession. At the end, these a few countries would also get sucked in. This is the current situation of the global economy.

Thank you for listening. We may expand this discussion further during the Q&A session.

__ __ __

Related photos:

1. Forum speakers with the leaders of the CATO Institute Peter Goettler and David Boaz:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2015/newsletters2015-4/CATOleaders151123speakers-c-3.jpg

2. Wei Jingsheng speaking at the forum (from left to right: XIA Yeliang, TENG Biao, Ian VASQUEZ, CHEN Guangcheng, WEI Jingsheng, HUANG Ciping):

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2015/newsletters2015-4/CATOforum151123speakers-c-3.jpg

3. Speakers receiving interviews:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2015/newsletters2015-4/CATOforum151123interviews-c-3.jpg

4. Wei Jingsheng at lunch:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2015/newsletters2015-4/WeiJSlunch151123inCATO-c-4.jpg

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is a message from WeiJingSheng.org

The Wei Jingsheng Foundation and the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition are dedicated to the promotion of human rights and democratization in China. We appreciate your assistance and help in any means. We pledge solidarity to all who struggle for human rights and democratic governance on this planet.

You are welcome to use or distribute this release. However, please credit with this foundation and its website at: www.weijingsheng.org

Although we are unable to afford to pay royalty fees at this time, we are seeking your contribution as well. You may send your articles, comments and opinions to: HCP@weijingsheng.org. Please remember, only in text files, not in attachments.

For website issues and suggestions, you may contact our professional staff and web master at: webmaster@Weijingsheng.org

To find out more about us, please also visit our websites at: www.WeiJingSheng.org and www.ChinaLaborUnion.org for news and information for Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition and human rights and democracy movement as whole, especially our Chinese Labor Union Base.

You may contact Ciping Huang at: HCP@Weijingsheng.org or

Wei Jingsheng Foundation office at: 1-202-270-6980

Wei Jingsheng Foundation's postal address is:

Wei Jingsheng Foundation, P. O. Box 15449, Washington, DC 20003, USA

You are receiving this message because you had previous shown your interest in learning more about Mr. Wei Jingsheng and the Chinese Democratic Movement. To be removed from the list, simply reply this message and use "unsubscribe" as the Subject. Please allow us a few days to process your request.

*****************************************************************

中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue:A902-W583

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A902-W583

Release Date: November 23, 2015

发布日：2015年11月23日

Topic: Free Trade and Human Rights in China -- Wei Jingsheng's Speech at CATO Institute's Policy Forum on China

标题：自由贸易与中国人权 -- 魏京生在卡托研究所的中国政策论坛上的讲话

Original Language Version: English (Chinese version at the end)

此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2015/report2015-11/WeiJSspeech151123atCATOinstitueA902-W583.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------

自由贸易与中国人权

-- 魏京生在卡托研究所的中国政策论坛上的讲话

2015年11月23日，美国卡托研究所在其哈耶克礼堂举办了有关中国人权问题的政策论坛。演讲的嘉宾为陈光诚、魏京生、滕彪。卡托研究所的夏业良教授就三位的演讲进行了评论。研究所的全球自由与繁荣中心主任伊恩·瓦斯奎兹主持了这场讨论。论坛的题目为：“不断恶化的中国人权。”

讨论会前，卡托研究所的总裁兼首席执行官Peter Goettler及执行副总裁David Boaz会见了嘉宾们。之后，卡托研究所的客座研究员夏业良教授带领来访嘉宾及同行们参观了这个知名智库并给予热情的介绍。

除了到场的参加者外，论坛内容被实况转播在互联网上。论坛结束后，演讲者们接受了不同形式的许多采访。之后，与会者们共进午餐并进行了更多的交流。

以下是魏京生在论坛上的演讲。

__ __ __

自由贸易与中国人权

-- 魏京生

2015年11月23日

感谢卡托研究所和夏业良教授给我这个机会谈中国问题。

在美国，有很多的商人，特别是喜欢到中国或者其它独裁国家投资的商人，厌恶人权。他们认为要求这些国家改善人权，就是影响了他们的生意。这是个极大的误解，或者说是片面的看法。

他们在暗中支持独裁国家侵犯人权，认为这样做可以保证他们能获得廉价的劳动力，然后用廉价的商品在发达国家正常的市场上获得超高额的利润。在过去的几十年中，他们的计谋实现了。他们帮助中国破坏了正常的国际贸易市场秩序，并且有一大批资本家暴富，同时却让更多的人们陷入了相对的贫困。这使得全世界的贫富差距快速地增加，全世界都逐渐地进入了不稳定的状态。

为什么会这样呢？

首先，廉价的劳动力使得中国和其它专制国家的购买力增长缓慢。它们所生产的价值的大部分变成了各国富翁们的金融财富和政府收入，并支持着金融市场的不正常的繁荣和军备竞赛。它的后果简单地说就是：钱的增长远远大于购买力的增长，商品的增长远远大于市场的增长。这样的经济必须依靠别人的市场来维持。换句话说：就是把别人的市场当作殖民地来使用，靠剥削别人的市场来维持经济的高速增长和超高的利润。

这样的经济模式给别人和自己的生产提供的市场必然十分狭小。因此它必须保持大量的贸易逆差，才能维持低人权经济模式的运转。为了保持大量的贸易逆差，它必须使用各种手段破坏正常的市场秩序，包括操纵货币价值、伪造数据、各种非贸易的壁垒，及巧妙地绕过国际法律的仲裁，等等。

其次，自由市场经济的国家无法以自己的国内法律来维持秩序。因而任由低人权国家的廉价商品大量涌入自己的市场，而不能同等利用别人的市场。这造成了生产萎缩，购卖力增长缓慢，不得不依靠向金融市场借债来维持消费。这就像一个人的血液被逐渐抽干，身体在不断地衰弱。而且它还不仅仅是经济上的衰弱，包括各个方面的、全面的衰弱。

上述两种国家的市场间的贸易之所以很不平衡，是因为他们的贸易不是在一个相同的市场上进行，不是在同等的条件下进行。那是一种不公平的贸易。造成不公平的主要原因，是市场所依托的人的社会不一样，法律和人权保障不一样。这就像一个讲道理的人，不加防范地和一个流氓打交道时候的情况一样。这种情况下，讲道理的人一定会吃亏。

很多商人坚持认为：商人只管赚钱，和人权没有关系，和法律也许有一些关系。从他们个人赚到了钱来看，他们也许是对的。但是从国家和市场整体来看，这个说法是错的。商人利用市场差别赚到了钱，同时两方面的社会都受到了伤害。不仅是经济上的伤害，而且是人们生活受到了伤害。这是一种必须由国家来控制的不公平的和不道德的贸易。

在中国和美国的双边贸易中，商人们处在不同的法律和社会环境中。在美国，他们受到的是公平的法律对待。在中国，他们面对的是不公平的法律和人权对待。他们必须依照中国的秩序和规律来平衡这种不公平。于是，行贿等等不合法行为就成了新秩序。这种新的秩序污染了中国的政治和社会，也必然会扩散到美国的政治和社会中来。同时，这也给这些商人的存在，带来了不合法和不稳定的潜在威胁。

法律是什么？法律首先和主要是对个人权利的保障，包括对财产权利的保障。没有对人权和财产权利的保障，商业就没有了秩序，成为一种纯粹的投机，而且风险极高。这种古典式的投机商业和贸易，根本不符合现代经济的需要。而且，它对有序发展的现代经济，是一种破坏性的因素。在暂时没能改变不同社会的政治制度和法律体系之前，必须由国家通过立法来控制，才能够平衡不同法律体系的市场之间的贸易。只有消除破坏性因素的影响，才能使它达到公平和平衡。

否则，少数国家的投机性的繁荣，带来的是全球性的衰退，最后这少数国家也会进入衰退。这正是现在全球经济的状况。

谢谢大家的聆听。提问时，我们可以把这个问题更进一步地展开讨论。

__ __ __