On June 1, 2009, Dr. Wenran Jiang, Mactaggart Research Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta, was interviewed by CBC's the Current, on the twenty years anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident.
Twenty years after the killings in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese Government is still the focus of a great deal of international criticism over its human rights record.
In April, the Chinese cabinet unveiled a lengthy document meant to address those criticisms. It's what Chinese leaders call an action plan to better protect the political, economic, social and cultural rights of Chinese citizens ... ostensibly the first of its kind in China's history.
According to the offficial line, the plan: "Signals that the human-rights cause has become a major theme of China's national development and will promote the concept of respecting and safeguarding human rights at various levels of government and the whole of society at large."
Dr. Jiang thinks that's a step in the right direction. To listen to his complete interview with the CBC, please go to CBC webpage and click on RealOne player "Listen to Part Two".