BackChina’s advisory on human rights
A country that regularly engages in suppressing democratic impulses, where economic might is the consorting deity of military might, has sponsored a document on human rights for business
Premium
Now, this may come as a surprise. But the country that regularly engages in suppressing democratic impulses in national interest, where economic might is the consorting deity of military might, has sponsored a document on human rights for business. Yes. China.
Led by the country’s ministry of commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Minerals, Metals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters in October issued the Guidelines for Social Responsibility in Outbound Mining Investments. It is designed to be a behavioural document for use outside China. Unsurprisingly, there is no business and human rights document for application within China.
We in India have, of course, operated with similar cynicism for decades, but there is as yet no formal documentation of human rights do-nots for businesses, either issued by major chambers of commerce or lobby groups. Or, for that matter, will-nots by businesses. Moreover, as we have entered a decisive political phase where suppression of democratic impulse is being portrayed as a necessary cost for enhancing economic might—all this while preserving the illusion of democracy—such a document may help right here at home.
Global Witness, a London-based organization that monitors issues related to business and conflict, and corruption in Central and South America, Africa and Asia has disseminated the Chinese mantra in a report titled Tackling Conflict Minerals (globalwitness.org).
“Conduct risk-based supply chain due diligence in order to prevent engagement with materials that may have funded or fuelled conflict," Global Witness quoted the Chinese chamber of commerce as urging companies.
“Conduct an assessment to define whether the mining project from which traded minerals originate or the mineral trading routes used are located in a conflict-affected and/or high-risk area," it said.
Other pointers urged the adaptation of “existing due diligence measures to the specific needs of conflict-affected and high-risk areas", and that such measures “should be third-party audited and publicly reported on".
“When operating in a conflict-affected and/or high-risk area," the Chinese report adds, “take steps to monitor the business relations, transactions, and flows of funds and resources and avoid the trade of conflict minerals."
China’s impulse for such advisory—diktat, really—may seem like an attempt to minimize the public relations fallout of leveraging dictatorships and heavy-handed governments to secure its vast mineral and energy imports. But it is really a measure of China using whatever it takes, even good citizenship abroad, to secure geoeconomic interests alongside geopolitical ones.
As I earlier wrote in this column (Indian Business and Myanmar, 23 August 2013), the Chinese government had through its embassy in Myanmar sent word to Chinese businesses operating there to behave themselves; and not be seen as complicit in human rights violations. Among other things, that was in direct response to widespread violence over a copper mine in north-west Myanmar, in which a Chinese company, Wanbao Mining is in partnership with Myanmar government entities. The incident received widespread publicity outside China.
The New York Times wrote at the time, “Beijing has ordered secretive state-owned Chinese companies to do something they have rarely done before: publicly embrace Western-style corporate social responsibility practices and act humbly toward the people who live near their vaunted projects." That suggestion included the China National Petroleum Corp., which transports hydrocarbons through an 800-km pipeline from Myanmar to China. The October guidelines are clearly evolutionary.
While all this is about doing business abroad (and in this, the eyes of the world are equally on Chinese businesses as they are on businesses from developed economies which participate in human rights violations from hindrance to havoc across much of the developing world), it is well past the time that India’s government issued similar guidelines. On its own, or by partnering various chambers of commerce.
This needs to be done for businesses operating overseas as well as businesses right here at home. India is among a handful of countries with the capability and intention to reach out to the world for natural resources, exploit such resources at home, as well as offer such resources to the world.
But without active push by human rights and corporate social responsibility watchdogs, it may not come about. After all, the government has cleared new iron ore mining projects in Chhattisgarh, in the heart of active Maoist rebellion. Several businesses have paid hush money here and elsewhere—for instance, in north-east India, for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration—to corrupt government officials and rebels alike. To offer a pun: flagrant grease.
As with China, good citizenship may work better overseas.
Sudeep Chakravarti’s latest book is Clear.Hold.Build: Hard Lessons of Business and Human Rights in India. His previous books include Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country and Highway 39: Journeys through a Fractured Land. This column, which focuses on conflict situations in South Asia that directly affect business, runs on Fridays.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
