The International Campaign for Tibet today welcomed reports about concerns voiced by the United States, the EU, Germany, Japan and Canada with regard to sweeping new and planned security laws in the People’s Republic of China. As Reuters news agency reported today, the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and the European Union, in a rare joint action, have written to China to express concern over the recently passed law on counter-terrorism, the draft cyber security law, and the draft law on management of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, said: “We welcome this important joint action by governments around the world including the EU, questioning China’s record on human rights. China’s newly built security architecture is a major threat to human rights in China and Tibet, as particularly Tibetans run even more danger to be persecuted for their peaceful expression of religion, belief or opinion. We are strongly concerned about the new counter-terror law which will specifically target Tibetans and Uighurs. We urge the Chinese government to repeal this law and amend existing drafts of the cybersecurity and the NGO law. The joint action by the United States, the EU, Germany, Canada and Japan should remind the Chinese government that the world is looking closely at how China evolves.”
China has passed its first counter-terror law at the end of last year, rejecting concerns from international governments that draconian measures in the name of national security are being used to crack down on Tibetans, Uyghurs and Chinese civil society and to undermine religious freedom.[1]
The new law, which will form the blueprint for China’s counter-terrorism strategy, was passed on December 27 (2015) and follows the imposition of oppressive and counter-productive policies in Tibet and Xinjiang, involving extra-judicial killings, torture and imprisonment, and crackdowns on even mild expressions of religious identity and culture. An aggressive ‘counter-terrorism’ drive in Tibet with a strongly political dimension has involved an expansion of militarization across the plateau despite the absence of any violent insurgency in Tibet.
Footnote:
[1] International Campaign for Tibet, January 7, 2016: “China’s first counter-terror law and its implications for Tibet”; https://savetibet.org/chinas-first-counter-terror-law-and-its-implications-for-tibet/