people are dependent upon government socialism to survive. This creates a demand for more government services when needs go unmet, which increases the power and control of the state. This, in turn, reduces individualism, lowers productivity, and harms the economy. All of these factors posit enormous power to control the people in the hands of the state. It is such enormous power and a well-equipped military base that provides the stage on which both Chinese and Russian regimes carry out human rights abuses.
The Chinese government still maintains strict controls on a variety of institutions and over individual rights. There are strict regulations on and the government maintains absolute control over independent organizing (the right to assemble), free speech and the media, and religious expression. The countryÆs judicial system is a mockery with respect to receiving a fair and impartial trial: ôFew legal safeguards exist in China to ensure fair trials, and the judicial system is controlled at every level by CCP political-legal committees that may determine the outcome of cases before the court hears evidence presented at trialö (China, 1995, 3). This is one of the main ways the government controls and oppresses any opposition to its absolute power.
In Russia, the same kinds of human rights abuses and flawed social institutions also exist. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to mouth words in support of the Constitution, the rule of law, and human rights, but many critics of RussiaÆs human rights violations feel such declarations are mere rhetoric. The St. Petersburg TimesÆ list of human rights violations and concerns, reads much like the list of controls maintained by the Chinese government in the above paragraph: ô...the continued campaign in Chechn
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