China’s human rights record under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) came under formal international scrutiny yesterday for the first time since he took power, with the main UN rights forum set to hear accusations that the government is expanding a crackdown on dissent.
The UN Human Rights Council, which reviews all UN members every four years, will give concerned countries a chance to challenge the administration of Xi, who some experts had thought would be less hardline than his predecessors.
Instead, critics say Xi has presided over a clampdown that has moved beyond the targeting of dissidents calling for political change. For example, authorities have detained at least 16 activists who have demanded officials publicly disclose their wealth, as well as scores of people accused of online “rumor mongering.”
“Xi Jinping has definitely taken the country backwards on human rights,” prominent rights lawyer Mo Shaoping (莫少平) said. “Look at the number of people who are being locked up and the measures that are being taken to lock them up.”
China will make a presentation at the start of the debate in Geneva, during which diplomats will speak. Non-governmental organizations are not allowed to address the council, but can submit reports, often echoed in country statements.
The council has no binding powers. Its rotating membership of 47 states does not include China, although Beijing is expected to run for a spot next month. The hearing will be the second time China has been assessed under a process that began in 2008.
Diplomats are likely to raise questions over China’s crackdown on dissent, the death penalty and the use of torture among other topics, New York-based Human Rights Watch Asia researcher Maya Wang said.
Of special concern is the arrest in August of prominent activist Xu Zhiyong (許志永), who had called for officials to reveal their wealth, Wang said. Wang also cited last month’s disappearance of Cao Shunli, who had helped stage a sit-in this year outside the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to press for the public to be allowed to contribute to a national human rights report.
China had sent a large delegation to Geneva to engage in dialogue with an “open and frank attitude,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) told a news conference on Monday.
“If there are some criticisms, some constructive criticisms, the Chinese government will listen with an open mind and accept them and will give them serious consideration,” she said. “As for malicious, deliberate criticisms, of course we will uphold our own path and our own correct judgements.”
In 2009, China rejected calls from Western and some Latin American nations to end the death penalty, but agreed to suggestions from Cuba that it take firm action against “self-styled human rights defenders working against the Chinese state and people.”
The ascendancy of Xi as Chinese Communist Party chief in a once-in-a-decade generational leadership transition in November last year gave many Chinese hope for political reform, spurring citizens to push officials to disclose their wealth in several movements throughout the country.
However, the detention of activists making those calls is a strong indication the party will not tolerate any open challenge to its rule, even as it claims more transparency. The activists face trial on the charge of illegal assembly.
Hundreds of microbloggers, people who post short comments online, have also been detained since August in a campaign against “rumor mongering,” according to Chinese media and rights groups. Most have been released, but some are still being held on criminal charges.
On Sunday, Chinese police arrested Wang Gongquan (王功權), a well-known venture capitalist. Wang had helped lead a campaign for the release of another activist.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese