ABSTRACT
The last decade or so is littered with examples of China's engagement with the international human rights regime. Yet, the Chinese government's regular celebrations of the anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, accession to some of the core international human rights covenants, and participation in human rights mechanisms and dialogues at bilateral and multilateral levels have exposed it to international criticism, to obligations that it is often reluctant to fulfill, and in earlier times to political and economic sanctions. The Chinese government's record has come under high levels of external scrutiny where its own domestic conditions suggest that it has failed to live up to the international commitments it has made. In addition, it has been castigated where it has been unwilling strongly to censure those governments that are perpetrators of large-scale violations of human rights within their own societies.
