Coming off of our class discussions regarding immigration, I had to wonder where state sovereignty fits into the immigration issue. State Sovereignty, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is "supreme power especially over a body politic; freedom from external control". The idea of state sovereignty came from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 when leaders from all over Europe decided that each leader had sovereign control over their independent state.
The idea of state sovereignty has continued to this day and the article attached is a perfect example of that. China has restricted the free movement of it's own national citizens in and around Beijing. The hukou system was developed to try and control the massive population of China and control the movements of it's people. Each person is given a hukou card that is designated as either a urban card or a rural card, and each citizen is expected to live in their "home district" for life. While the Chineese idea is a good one in theory for population control, it severly restricts the free movement of it's people by limiting healthcare, education to people not in their "home district".
The question that comes with this article would be: Does the international community have an obligation to stand up for the Chineese who are feeling oppressed? Or, does China have the right to control the free movement of it's people under the philosophy of national sovereignty?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/china.hukou.migrants/index.html
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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It is very hard for an international body to dictate what a country does within its own borders and with its own citizens. However, the restriction of movement in this sense is set up in a way that can restrict a persons ability to prosper and live a life that they would want to live. At the same time though it is easy for a person from the United States where we have plenty of room for us to move freely (when one can financially support a move) to say that a country can't restrict its population from freely moving.
ReplyDeleteEven though it is a very hard question to answer, I really enjoyed reading your blogand it does bring up many interesting questions.