Si Chen

When I was in Zurich in July 2015, I met a charming young woman named Si Chen. She’s from China but was doing her master of laws in Denmark, I believe. While we were at the summer program, I edited one of her papers. She e-mailed me another paper last week and asked for feedback. She’s now a student at McGill University in Montreal and is heading to Seoul to present her research on China’s efforts to address human rights abuses by Chinese companies. Her conclusion:

"My research demonstrates that, alongside the international trend, there is a policy shift towards increasing human rights concerns in China’s regulation of its overseas investment. The lack of accountability and remedy mechanisms remain deficiencies, however the emerging policy framework is a very positive sign of China’s efforts in addressing human rights risks in relation to its increasing overseas investment."

If its human rights efforts truly were in proportion to its overseas investment, China could change the world. I think she may be a bit optimistic.

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