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China ditches key clause in labor treaty

Robinson Beijing
U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson pressed China to ratify the treaty  

BEIJING, China -- China may have ratified an international convention on labor, but it also omitted a key clause allowing workers to form independent labor unions.

Chinese lawmakers ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights without the clause, because of what a Foreign Ministry official called "conditions in China."

"Chinese law safeguards the rights of Chinese workers," spokesperson Zhang Qiyue said. Rejecting the union clause "does not affect the various rights and interests that they enjoy in accordance with law."

Beijing only allows one trade union in the country, which is controlled by the ruling Communist Party. Dozens of activists have been jailed for either advocating workers' rights, or trying to form independent unions.

But China is not the only government to object to parts of the international convention. Thirty eight of the 144 countries that have signed the pact have rejected one or more of its clauses.

The United States Congress has not yet ratified the treaty, because it refers to employment and a fair wage as entitlements.

Still, human rights groups were disappointed that China opted out of the trade union clause.

"Protecting workers' rights is important. Apparently China is trying to get around it," a spokesman for Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch said.

Rights campaigners believe China timed the ratification to deflect criticism of its human rights record, when the United Nation convenes its annual human rights conference on March 19.

The United States has said it will sponsor efforts to condemn China's human rights record when the body meets in Geneva.

Reuters contributed to this report.



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