Hu Jintao’s visit an opportunity for U.S. to press for rights over rhetoric in China
For immediate release
January 18, 2011, 9:30 am EST
Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 478 1920
As the Obama administration hosts Chinese President Hu Jintao on a state visit, the United States must continue to press President Hu and his government to live up to their own human rights regulations and abide by universally recognized freedoms of speech and expression, particularly with regards to the Uyghur people. A candid discussion about the contrast between China’s treatment of its citizens and the Chinese government’s own rhetoric is vital to building a Sino-U.S. dialogue based on trust and accountability. A frank conversation over the widening gulf between rights and reality is necessary to encourage Chinese leaders to move toward a more transparent government that listens to the grievances of its citizenry and encourages, rather than stifles, dissenting views and the spread of information.
China must no longer be allowed to hide behind the argument that there is a “Chinese definition” of human rights, a version of human rights that says they are the product of particular social and historical situations. Such assertions lack credibility in the face of increasing pronouncements from Chinese officialdom, however mendacious, that human rights are fully protected in Chinese society.
As documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report issued on January 11, Chinese authorities have failed to deliver on the National Human Rights Action Plan they issued for the years 2009 and 2010. The stated goals of the plan to protect the rights of Chinese citizens were “undermined by the government’s simultaneous commission of human rights abuses during the same period” and included broadened controls on Uyghurs and Tibetans. As stated by HRW, Chinese authorities sentenced dissidents to lengthy prison terms on state secrets charges, expanded restrictions on media and Internet freedom, and engaged in increasing numbers of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
Chinese authorities sentenced Uyghur journalists and webmasters to lengthy prison terms in 2010, in the wake of unrest that rocked the regional capital of Urumchi in July 2009. According to reports, at least two Uyghur journalists were sentenced to life in prison in April 2010, simply for expressing dissenting views. One of the journalists, Memetjan Abdulla, reportedly raised the ire of Chinese officials in particular because he spoke with foreign reporters about Uyghur issues. Another Uyghur journalist, Gheyret Niyaz, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in July 2010 for “endangering state secrets” after he spoke with journalists in Hong Kong. The trials of these individuals were closed, and information about the trials emerged only later after friends and acquaintances were able to publicize the news outside of China.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated in a letter to President Obama dated January 11 that “the number of journalists behind bars [in China] was propelled by the jailing of Uighur and Tibetan journalists covering ethnic issues and regional unrest.” During the two years covered by China’s National Human Rights Action plan, 12 out of 13 of the journalists who were arrested were Uyghur or Tibetan.
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are universal values that have been publicly embraced by top Chinese leaders such as premier Wen Jiabao. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are enshrined in Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution. However, there is a stark difference between law and reality when it comes to these freedoms, which Chinese officials treat more as privileges than rights.
Without freedom of speech and the free flow of information, there can be no accountability with regard to human rights abuses, and there can be no objective investigation into human rights violations. The arbitrary detention, widespread torture, and judicial malfeasance that plague Chinese society cannot be adequately addressed. In the Uyghur case, Chinese officials’ suppression of information has resulted in a cover-up of profoundly severe rights violations of Uyghurs, particularly in the wake of July 2009 unrest. The clampdown on Uyghur journalists is part of an intense campaign to prevent an open, transparent accounting of the enforced disappearances, torture and unfair trials of an unknown number of Uyghurs.
As President Obama meets with President Hu this week, a demonstrated commitment to raising concern about these issues is vital to American interests in the Sino-U.S. relationship. Amid a resurgence in official demonization of Uyghurs and other Chinese citizens for talking to foreigners, the United States must make it known that such trends are unacceptable and inconsistent with mutual dialogue and cooperation. China’s dependence on silencing its people’s grievances in order to maintain stability not only represents a danger to the Chinese regime and Chinese society; it distinguishes China as a uniquely untrustworthy party in bilateral and multilateral relationships. America must call upon China to live up to its own stated commitments, both for the sake of the citizens of China and for its ability to find merit in continued American engagement with China.