Xi Tells Biden Human Rights ‘Red Line’
In his November meeting with President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that the issues of human rights, Taiwan, democracy and rights to development, are “red lines” over which China should not be challenged. The two were speaking on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic forum summit in Peru.
British Prime Minister Brings Up Human Rights With Xi
In his first meeting with Xi, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the issue of human rights and Taiwan. However, as he spoke, two British reporters were moved out of the meeting by Chinese officials.
“I’m very pleased that my foreign secretary and foreign minister Wang [Yi (王毅)] met recently to discuss respective concerns including on human rights and parliamentary sanctions, Taiwan, the South China Sea and our shared interest in Hong Kong. We are concerned by reports of Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) deterioration,” Starmer said at the G20 event in Brazil.
Call for Release of Activists
The International Federation for Human Rights and the World Coalition Against Torture have called for the release of activists human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng (餘文生) and his wife Xu Yan (許艷), who is also an activist.
At the end of October, Yu was sentenced to three years in prison and Xu was sentenced to one for accepting an invitation to meet with European Union Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo and another European diplomat. The conviction was for “inciting subversion of state power.”
In a statement, the International Federation for Human Rights said China should “Immediately and unconditionally release Yu Wensheng and his wife, activist Xu Yan, as they have been convicted solely for exercising their human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.”
Legislators Call for Uyghur Release
More than 50 legislators from various countries have called for the release of 48 Uyghur men held in a Thai immigration detention center for over ten years. The men have been held since 2014, when they attempted to flee China via Thailand. Originally a part of a larger group of 350 people, the men are being held as illegal immigrants, rather than refugees. Of the others initially detained, 172 women and children were sent on to Turkey, while 109 people were sent back to China.
Trump Picks Welcomed by Uyghur Rights Supporters
Senator Marco Rubio, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of state, and Representative Mike Waltz, his national security advisor, have both been noted as advocates of the Uyghur cause following their selections. Rubio co-sponsored the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021 and Waltz called for the boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2021 on human rights grounds.
Sanders Says U.S.’s Israel Position Weakens Rights Criticism of China
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has said the U.S.’s support of Israel’s actions in Gaza undermines U.S. criticism of China and other countries guilty of human rights abuses.
Speaking in the U.S. Senate, Sanders, said “You cannot condemn human rights [violations] around the world and then turn a blind eye to what the United States government is now funding in Israel. People will laugh in your face. They will say to you, ‘You’re concerned about China; you’re concerned about Russia; you’re concerned about Iran. Well, why are you funding the starvation of children in Gaza right now?”
The same sentiment has been consistently expressed by rights groups in recent months.
Call to Release Tibetan Activists
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly last month, Mary Lawlor, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders, called on Chinese President Xi to release human rights defenders in Tibet working to protect the environment and advance the U.N.’s sustainable development goals.
China’s Alternative Human Rights Pitch
Western forces have politicized human rights in order to get involved in other countries’ internal affairs and defend their hegemony, according to Jiang Jianguo (蒋建国), executive vice-president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies. Speaking at the International Academic Conference on the Ideals of Human Rights in Ancient Chinese Classics in Hunan, he added that it is therefore important to develop China’s own human rights concepts by explaining its “rich culture, practical achievements, global contributions and development drive.”
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