Rethinking China’s challenge to human rights: The case of tourism development in Tibet

Abstract

In recent years, the challenge that the Chinese Human Rights Narrative poses to the human rights regime has gained a special sense of urgency as the issue has become embedded into the larger geopolitical debate on China’s threat to the liberal world order. This article shifts the focus from the opposition between the liberal and Chinese Narratives to discrepancies between China’s Human Rights narrative and practices and challenges liberal human rights, which have been contentious from their inception. Ironically, the Chinese government does not live up to the narrative based on which it confronts liberal democracies. Through the case of tourism development in Tibet, the article illustrates that while China emphasises the right to development by promoting human rights for all individuals, the government’s implementation is anchored into violations of the cultural rights of ethnic minorities. With this perspective in mind, the study calls for a defence of human rights grounded on discrepancies between the narrative and actual practices rather than a status quo defence of the human rights regime.