'China tried, but failed, to prevent UN scrutiny of its human rights violations', Anouk Wear and Megan Khoo

The U.N. Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China in Geneva will require serious follow-up by key players.

Small but mighty. This phrase summarizes Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong, Uyghur, Tibetan, and other advocates who campaigned to call attention to China’s human rights violations at the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China in Geneva Tuesday. Despite China’s best efforts to spread disinformation, the truth prevailed.

It all started last May, as we testified to the egregious human rights violations of the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in Geneva. 

As two of approximately ten non-governmental organization representatives defending the basic civil liberties of China, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet under international law, we were far outnumbered by representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who said our “flawed comments on the human rights situation in Hong Kong” were based on “false information” and “distorted narratives.” 

The surreal scenario left us feeling threatened, yet motivated us to continue calling out the ongoing human rights crisis in Hong Kong and other regions.

This preceded the U.N. UPR of China Jan. 23, in which hundreds of human rights advocates campaigning for Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and other Chinese dissidents closely observed in person and online what will be the final review of the human rights situation in China for the next four or five years in Geneva. 

The UPR is a U.N. review process which every member state is required to go through every four to five years, and is a mechanism to ensure scrutiny of every country’s human rights record and recommendations for compliance with international human rights law. 

This year’s UPR was a chance for Hong Kong, and other regions of China including Xinjiang and Tibet, to expose China’s worsening human rights record on the international stage. 

Following a year of businesses and individuals physically leaving Hong Kong due to a noticeable decline in the once-thriving international financial hub, the start of Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper founder Jimmy Lai’s trial, and the Hong Kong authorities placing HK$1 million ($128,000) bounties on the heads of 13 overseas Hong Kongers, the UPR was a timely opportunity for international governments to take a stand for human rights in China, and particularly Hong Kong, before it is too late, and before the issues spill over into Taiwan.

Chinese lobbying

Ahead of the UPR, Reuters reported that China lobbied non-Western member states to praise its human rights record at the UPR by sending memos around the U.N. in Geneva, and the Geneva Observer reported on China’s efforts to quash dissent, in a story which featured statements from us. China also attempted to limit civil society input, submitted fabricated information regarding its human rights record, and blocked the live stream of the UPR in mainland China.

Therefore, the heart rates of pro-democracy advocates were high, as each member state had a mere 45 seconds to present recommendations to China regarding its human rights record. This anxiety quickly became a sense of achievement as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and other key human rights issues were placed in the spotlight for all the world to see. 

U.N. diplomats made it clear that China has violated international human rights law and twisted laws within its own region to violate the rights of its people, such as imposing the National Security Law for Hong Kong in Hong Kong, which effectively deems whatever activities the government does not like as illegal. 

Even the advance questions submitted by U.N. member states to China mentioned Hong Kong 25 times, as well as the cases of Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung once.

The United States asked: “Hong Kong’s National Security Law (NSL) does not apply in the United States, nor does it apply to persons on U.S. soil. What is Hong Kong’s justification for violating its commitments under the ICCPR and the Basic Law of Hong Kong and violating other states’ sovereignty by issuing cash rewards that unjustly target 13 human rights advocates who reside outside of Hong Kong, including a U.S. citizen, pursuant to attempts to apply its NSL extraterritorially?”

During the UPR, the U.S. echoed its advance questions by recommending that China “cease harassment, surveillance, and threats against individuals abroad and in China including Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong […] repeal vague national security, counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, and sedition laws, including the National Security Law in Hong Kong […] end repressive measures against women, LGBTQI+ persons, laborers, and migrant workers, including in Hong Kong and Macau.” 

The U.S. also condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, as well as transnational repression worldwide. The U.S. made it clear that it will not tolerate its citizens, asylees, and their families being threatened by the CCP-controlled government in Hong Kong.

Attention to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet

The U.S. was joined by Canada, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, and Belgium.

 Each of these countries mentioned some aspect of the plight of Hong Kong. This exemplifies the ongoing destruction in the rule of law in Hong Kong, especially given that only six member states mentioned Hong Kong during the UPR in 2018.

In addition to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet also shared the spotlight on the deterioration of human rights in China. In response to the allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and the deterioration of rights in Tibet, U.N. member states made an unprecedented number of relevant recommendations on these regions, too. 

A total of 20 members raised the situation in Tibet, more than double the number of states that did so in 2018.

Despite China’s best efforts to mislead the world, business interests and empty talking points did not prevail over concern about China’s human rights violations and systematic abuse of millions of individuals around the world.

Following the UPR, we must wait and see how the U.N. Human Rights Committee and China respond. Once they do, they must hold China to account for the numerous human rights abuses documented on the permanent record in Geneva. This includes prioritizing the case of British citizen Jimmy Lai, which the UK delegation raised, and all other political prisoners who are detained in China and Hong Kong for peacefully exercising their basic human rights under international law. 

U.N. member states, and particularly the U.S., should also monitor whether the Hong Kong authorities repeal the 13 arrest warrants with bounties against overseas pro-democracy Hong Kongers. These bounties are an outright act of transnational repression to scare Hong Kong activists from engaging with the U.N. and other international fora to ensure that the CCP is held accountable for its human rights violations in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet. 

On its home turf, Washington must also act in accordance with the international commitments it makes to protect activists residing in the U.S.. Hong Kong has placed bounties on Joey Siu, who is a U.S. citizen; Frances Hui, who was the first Hong Kong pro-democracy activist to receive asylum in the U.S.; and Anna Kwok, who drew the government’s wrath when she testified before the U.S. Congress last July.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken should publicly and immediately meet with these three brave women to keep the spotlight on Hong Kong’s eradication of the rule of law and the dangers of the NSL so that “bounty” does not become a buzzword for the Hong Kong authorities in 2024. 

This article was published in Radio Free Asia on 23 January 2024.