David Lammy must use his visit to China to challenge Beijing’s brutal repression of human rights

“The government must ensure that negotiations on trade and security relations with China do not continue to the detriment of human rights” – Sacha Deshmukh

Commenting on Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s first visit to China which is expected to take place tomorrow and Saturday, Sacha Deshmukh, director general of Amnesty International UK, said:

“This visit is a crucial opportunity for the Foreign Secretary to demonstrate the Government’s genuine commitment to publicly and privately challenging Beijing’s brutal crackdown on human rights in China and Hong Kong.

“Behind closed doors but also in public, David Lammy must take on the Chinese government over its systematic and industrial repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, widespread imprisonment of peaceful activists and completely unacceptable intimidation students and activists here in Tibet. the United Kingdom.

“The Prime Minister’s statement that the immediate release of unjustly imprisoned British businessman Jimmy Lai is a UK priority is welcome, and Mr Lammy should also seek the immediate release of his colleagues. prisoners of conscience Hong Kong lawyer-activist Chow Hang-tung and Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, as well as longtime Uighur economist Ilham Tohti and #MeToo activists Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing.

“Throughout this journey, the government should ensure that negotiations on trade and security relations with China do not continue at the expense of human rights. »

The long arm of Chinese state repression

Chinese authorities regularly target peaceful critics with widespread online censorship, arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture. Human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists, and religious leaders and practitioners are among those subject to systematic persecution. Widespread repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet has continued despite significant international criticism.

In Hong Kong, journalists, broadcasters and book publishers are among those prosecuted and imprisoned under the country’s notorious national security law and other repressive laws, while civil society organizations both in Hong Kong Kong and abroad, are subject to criminal charges or harassment due to their legitimate activities. The long arm of Chinese state repression has meant that Chinese and Hong Kong communities in the UK, other parts of Europe and North America have all suffered various kinds of threats and intimidation, in the part of a sinister pattern of repression. “transnational repression”.