“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse” - Human Rights Watch

and the ministers of foreign affairs and labor. 3 Given that CNMC is state-owned, the
Chinese government is more directly responsible for the wage, health, and union policies
that affect the Zambian workforce.
A Body of Work on Business and Human Rights
Human Rights Watch has investigated patterns of human rights abuse linked to
multinational companies around the world, with a particular focus on mining, oil, and
other extractive industries. That work has included research on patterns of human rights
abuse linked to the operations of several multinational oil and mining companies in
countries including Nigeria, Sudan, Papua New Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo. We have also documented abuses connected to the logging industry in Indonesia
and alleged violations of labor rights in the United States by Wal-Mart and by several
major European companies, as well as human rights problems caused by corruption in oilrich
countries including Equatorial Guinea and Angola. We have used that research to
advocate for better government regulation of companies’ human rights practices and to
advocate directly with companies themselves to acknowledge and ensure accountability
for past abuses and to improve their human rights records. In addition, Human Rights
Watch participates in several voluntary initiatives designed to bring companies,
governments, and civil society advocates together to ensure greater respect for human
rights, such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
China in Africa
In 2001, the Chinese government formalized a policy of “going out” (zou chuqu, in
Mandarin), in which the central government actively supported Chinese companies in
economic investment abroad that fit “with one or more of four objectives: providing a
market for Chinese products, improving resource security, enabling technology transfer,
and promoting research and development.” 4 Chinese engagement in Africa did not begin
at this point—as just one example, the Chinese government financed and constructed
between 1970 and 1975 the US$500 million Tanzam Railway that linked Zambia’s mines to
Dar es Salaam’s port—but the direct engagement in industry across the continent has
grown steadily throughout the last decade. In 2006, the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation, which has organized four summits involving China and African states,
published “China’s African policy,” which includes:
3 People’s Daily Online, “The State Council,” http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/organs/ statecouncil.shtml, accessed
August 23, 2011.
4 Haglund, “In It for the Long Term?,” p. 631.
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