{"id":12234,"date":"2019-03-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/ngos-urge-the-eu-to-press-china-on-human-rights\/"},"modified":"2019-03-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:00:00","slug":"ngos-urge-the-eu-to-press-china-on-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/ngos-urge-the-eu-to-press-china-on-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"NGOs urge the EU to press China on Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\nOn 13 March, a group of NGOs including ICT addressed a letter to the EU and EU Member States to press them to press China on human rights at a forthcoming series of dialogues and the EU-China Summit. Below is the text of the letter.<\/em>\n\n \n

Ministers for Foreign Affairs of all EU member states\nDonald Tusk, President of the European Council\nJean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission\nFederica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs \/ Vice-President of the European Commission<\/p>\n

March 13, 2019<\/p>\n

Re: The EU, China, and Human Rights <\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Excellencies,<\/p>\n

We write regarding the ongoing discussions among European Union (EU) member states about EU-China relations, and ahead of the forthcoming series of EU-China dialogues, culminating in the EU-China Summit to be held in Brussels on April 9. At a moment when China poses threats to human rights domestically and internationally, it is essential that the EU take action to defend international human rights norms and institutions.<\/p>\n

Since last year\u2019s Summit, President Xi\u2019s government continues its assault on human rights across China. Credible estimates suggest that more than one million Turkic Muslims are being arbitrarily detained across Xinjiang, simply on the basis of their identity, and outside of any legal process. Outside the camps, Xinjiang authorities surveil and control every aspect of life, imposing severe restrictions on their freedom of religion, and on the rights to freedoms of expression, association, and movement. In Tibet, authorities have intensified political education and imposed restrictions on informal community groups.<\/p>\n

Across the country, lawyers, journalists, perceived critics, and human rights defenders continue to endure arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and enforced disappearance. Legal reform has not simply stalled but reversed, erasing many of the last two decades\u2019 gains with respect to placing constraints on state power. Beijing has invested heavily in rapid expansion of a high-tech surveillance state, giving it ever-greater control over society. \u00a0Chinese authorities tightened control in advance of the 60th<\/sup> \u201cTibetan National Uprising Day\u201d on March 10, including closing the Tibet Autonomous Region for two months to foreign tourists.<\/p>\n

Chinese leaders\u2019 turn against the universality of human rights is also increasingly visible through China\u2019s foreign policy. In a chilling indication of its longer-term agenda to weaken key human rights institutions, in March 2018, China succeeded in advancing a resolution at the Human Rights Council, focusing on its vision for \u201cwin-win cooperation,\u201d while omitting any role for independent civil society, any mention of accountability, and other core parts of the Council\u2019s mandate.<\/p>\n

Beyond its own borders, Beijing has pressed other governments, including several EU member states, to forcibly return asylum seekers to China. It has also stepped up harassment of diaspora communities worldwide. Not only does Beijing continue to arbitrarily detain EU citizens, including Gui Minhai, but it is now also prosecuting two Canadian citizens on charges of stealing state secrets \u2013 one of the most serious charges under Chinese law \u2013 in apparent retaliation against Ottawa over a diplomatic dispute. Throughout the year, China pressed ahead with its \u201cOne Belt, One Road\u201d initiative, which lacks mechanisms for due diligence, consultation with affected communities, or labor rights, including in EU member states.<\/p>\n

It is clear that the Chinese government poses a threat to human rights around the world, and to the EU as a critical institutional defender of human rights. The tough negotiations the EU and its member states have ahead of every session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, or in relation to any human rights statement that concerns China, are ongoing indications of this difficulty. Perhaps more emblematic is the fact that as we approach the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the June 1989 Tiananmen Square bloodshed, Beijing has provided no accountability for the killings, enforced disappearances, or imprisonment of Tiananmen activists, but rather continued persecution of the memory and speech about the crackdown.<\/p>\n

In order to affirm the EU\u2019s foundational principle of promoting human rights, to continue to press for positive change in China, and to send an unambiguous message to Chinese leaders through this upcoming series of meetings, we urge you to:<\/p>\n\n