Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that in 2019 China increased its repression of human rights through restricting the internet; cracking down on activists and non government organisations (NGOs); deploying biometrics, artificial intelligence and big data to monitor and control behaviour; extending censorship and manipulating the discussion about its human rights abuses within the international community.
In its World Report 2020, HRW, an international NGO which advocates on behalf of refugees, migrants, children and political prisoners, accuses the Chinese government of committing human rights abuses in East Turkestan [Ch: Xinjiang], Hong Kong and Tibet, as well as outside its borders during 2019.
HRW says that in addition to continued restrictions on freedom of religion, speech, assembly and movement, in 2019 Chinese authorities in Tibet increased surveillance of phone and online communication and are using a nationwide anti-crime campaign to intimidate and persecute members of the Tibetan community who express sympathy for His Holiness the Dali Lama or opposition to the Chinese regime.
The report raises the alarm on a call by leaders of the Tibetan Autonomous Region for increased Sinicisation polices which would subject the monastic community to tests of their political re-education and require Chinese central government approval on the succession of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
HRW says that in 2019 China’s repressive regime reached beyond its borders to interfere with, and silence, anti-Chinese demonstrations in universities and to influence media and politicians around the world.
In the report, HRW notes that many governments, including the United States and the European Union, have expressed concern over China’s human rights abuses, but China is able to weaken international condemnation through financial incentives and intimidation. The Associated Press reported that Kenneth Roth, head of HRW, said upon releasing the report that while other nations commit serious human rights abuses, no other government flexes its political muscles with such vigour and determination to undermine the international human rights standards and institutions that could hold it to account.
China has rejected the report, according to the Associated Press, stating that the Chinese people determine the state of human rights in the country.
The report hit the global headlines when HRW chief Kenneth Roth was refused entry to Hong Kong where he was due to launch the report.
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