NC State Expert Says China Is Backing Away From Human Rights Claims As Olympics Nears

The People’s Republic of China is “over a barrel” when it comes to human rights, says North Carolina State University professor and China expert Dr. J. Oliver Williams. “Chinese officials told the International Olympic Committee that the best way to improve human rights in China was to bring the Olympics there, but things haven’t gone that way.” In fact, Williams says, civil unrest in Tibet and an increase in arrests of dissidents show that “China is doing the opposite of what it promised the IOC.”

Dr. J. Oliver Williams, professor of political science in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 919/247-4797 or jowillia@social.chass.ncsu.edu, is an expert on Chinese-U.S. relations, Chinese politics, human rights and how economic change is driving democratic development in China. He was a Fulbright Research Scholar in China in 2006 and also led a United Nations consultative team that year to improve dialogue between U.N. human rights officials and the Chinese government. Williams traveled in Tibet in 2007, talking with monks and young people about current affairs in that region.

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