The universalism of human rights versus the relativism of Chinese culture

Abstract

The human rights tradition remains a legacy of western liberalism. Cultural relativism poses challenges to universal human rights. Theoretically, universal human rights imply certain sets of social norms that preempt other cultural values. But how can one set of values - international human rights - warrant universal acknowledg ment as peremptory norms when, as a matter of social fact, highly divergent practices, morals, goals, and value hierarchies deeply divide the world's multiple and diverse civilizations?2 As we know, the Confucian system served as an effective social regulator throughout the near 2,000 year imperial period in Chinese history. This article explains the value of Confucian morality and finds out that Confucian values of family obligation, social duty, and virtue and so on do not necessarily conflict with human rights law. Yet, again like all moral systems, its norms can suffer manipulation and political abuse, particularly as the cultural context in which Confucianism developed deteriorated. The article also briefly examines the political history of modem China and concludes that it is often authoritarian leaders who invoke cultural relativism to conceal the characteristic abuses of totalitarian rules. This article argues that to acknowledge the universality of human rights is not to deny cultural pluralism or the relativity of value. It is to recognize the force of the system of international human rights in the face of cultural relativist challenges which appear to state little more than demands for international legal tolerance of intolerance.