The Politics of Localizing Human Rights: Chinese Policies and Corporate Practices in Latin America

Abstract

The ‘Going Out’ strategy that China began in 1999 escalated to a global level with the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ in 2013. However, the lack of a clear international framework for corporate accountability accentuates the risks of human rights’ affectation by Chinese corporations, considering their controversial performance in Latin America. This article engages with the scholarly framework of international norm localization to analyze the enactment of Chinese business and human rights standards and their concrete application. This assessment relies on an extensive review of academic and policy research and the analysis of social conflicts around one of the largest copper mines in the region, Las Bambas, located in the highlands of Peru. The case shows that the main problem is not the lack of incorporation of business and human rights standards into national laws and the guidelines of companies’ home regulators, but the different ways they are interpreted by social actors on the ground. Local communities are not passive receptors of those norms but norm makers who appropriate them and provide new meanings in line with their self-determination. Chinese and national authorities and firms, therefore, need to engage with those norms from the perspective of local people.

Latin America-Caribbean-China Knowledge Networks: State of the Field

“…The PRC could also contribute by adopting better sourcing standards. For example, Chinese banks could incorporate international standards, such as those stipulated by the International Labour Organization Convention 169, as a compulsory prerequisite to evaluate and concede credits to Chinese companies (Garzón 2018a;Merino 2021Merino , 2022.…”

“…NGOs, local communities, and experts have used the LATIN AMERICA-CARIBBEAN-CHINA KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS: STATE OF THE FIELD Hidrovía Amazónica in Peru as a case of study, claiming the insufficient evaluation of environmental and social impacts. According to Merino (2021Merino ( , 2022 the environmental impact assessment conducted for this project did not comply with the terms agreed during the previous consultation process, and did not address the environmental and social concerns raised by indigenous communities. According to information provided by Navas (2019), the hydropower project Patuca III in Honduras was also problematic due to its controversial prior consultation process and the scarce attention to Indigenous communities' demands.…”