China’s increasingly oppressive actions show dangerous global trend
THERE ARE widespread reports coming out of China of forced labor, torture, beatings, forced use of medications and involuntary sterilizations, among and other egregious human rights abuses.
By EMILY SCHRADERDEMONSTRATORS RUN from riot police shooting pepper-spray pellets during a protest in Hong Kong on June 9.(photo credit: TYRONE SIU/ REUTERS)
As the world continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has taken additional actions to exert anti-democratic and oppressive force on Hong Kong. They have continued their human-rights-violating internment camps where they detain Uyghur Muslims. And they are taking steps to build alliances with other dictatorship regimes already under international pressure for their human rights violations, such as Iran.We have a China problem on our hands, and no one seems to be paying attention. With the West still focused on the killing of George Floyd, and the rest of the world in chaos due to the coronavirus, China is taking the opportunity to expand its power. Chinese rights are being violated daily with minority groups being systematically oppressed and democracy activists violently shut down.In the last few weeks alone, China has pushed through sweeping “reforms” in the previously semi-autonomous Hong Kong that effectively put an end to Hong Kong democracy. These new “security” measures have massively over-broad regulations that allow for the suppression of free speech. They also grant Beijing the ability to take over legal cases entirely, to act with absolute impunity in Hong Kong, and to extradite and prosecute those who “conspire with foreigners.”Not only that, but the measures also allow for the prosecution of foreign nationals at the whim of Beijing. So if you’ve criticized China, it’s probably a good idea to stay out of Hong Kong.Hong Kong was once a bastion of hope and democracy in Communist China, but now the same political body that arrested Chinese whistleblowers for discussing China’s COVID-19 outbreak will have the ability to decide what’s legal and illegal. The consequences are frightening.The new security law has been widely condemned by the US, UK, EU, and European leaders, who called the move “deplorable.” While China is facing diplomatic pressure, China’s actions against Hong Kong are only the tip of the iceberg.Since 2018, China has been running internment camps (also dubbed “re-education camps”) for the Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, where a reported one to three million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been forcibly interned without any formal charges, and indoctrinated by the Chinese Community Party.THERE ARE widespread reports coming out of China of forced labor, torture, beatings, forced use of medications and involuntary sterilizations, among and other egregious human rights abuses.In late 2019, the UN Human Rights Council heard testimony that alleged the internment camps were also being used as a source for China’s illicit organ trade. This month, the story broke that the US seized an import of 13 tons of human hair suspected to be from Chinese internment camps. This is the second such seizure in year of Chinese hair products, which amount to some $6 billion worth of exports annually from China. The reports indicate that China is forcibly shaving the heads of prisoners in internment camps for profit.In addition to China’s human rights violations of its own citizens, China is cozying up to other destructive countries such as Iran. Iranian media reported that the two countries are working on a 25-year memorandum for economic benefit that could potentially include a $260 billion investment from China in Iran’s gas and oil industry. Additionally, China has publicly opposed extending sanctions on Iran, and both Russia and China could potentially sell weapons to Iran as early as October, should an arms embargo on Iran not be extended.The irony of enhanced Iran-China relations is of course that China is oppressing Uyghur Muslims under the cover of “combating terrorism” while actively pursuing relations with the worlds single largest sponsor of global terrorism: Iran.China is a bad faith actor with one of the world’s worst human rights records. It has a proven track record of rampant dishonesty. For example, China denied the existence of any internment camps until 2018, when they were formally “legalized.” China also claimed that it reported the COVID-19 outbreak to the World Health Organization, which the WHO said only this last week never actually happened. We cannot continue to ignore China’s behavior and its attacks on basic human rights.Freedom and equality isn’t only worth fighting for in the West. Those taking a stand for racial justice would do well to open their eyes and see the human-rights crisis that China has already created. Freedom is in free fall, and the international community must hold China accountable for its actions.The writer is the CEO of digital marketing firm Social Lite Creative and a research fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute.
