The French president and the president of the European Commission “
should make human rights a priority during their
visit to Beijing” next week,
underlined Thursday Human Rights Watch (HRW), fearing that discussions on the war in Ukraine eclipse this subject .
Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen "
should not shove the Chinese government's growing authoritarianism under the rug during their visit to Beijing
," Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director of the NGO Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Call for demanding public statements
She also urges them to "
take advantage of their public appearances with Xi Jinping to express their deep concern about widespread human rights abuses across China, growing oppression in Hong Kong and Tibet, and crimes against humanity. in Xinjiang
”.
The official adds that the French president and the president of the Commission should "
publicly
" demand the release of all those detained and imprisoned for political reasons, "
including hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, activists and politicians prosecuted for peaceful political actions in Hong Kong, and protesters arrested
” during protests against the “
zero covid
” policy.
Relegated human rights subjects
HRW fears that human rights in China are '
again
' relegated
to the background, as it was before 2019, when many European leaders and governments favored 'quiet diplomacy' in response to increasing violations. by China
”.
The NGO also recalls that during his last state visit to China, in November 2019, Emmanuel Macron had "not
publicly mentioned the serious abuses committed by Beijing in Xinjiang
".
If he had declared "
to have insisted with his Chinese counterpart on the need for dialogue and restraint in Hong Kong
", HRW notes that he had not called for respect for the rights of the people of Hong Kong.
"
Russia's war crimes in Ukraine should not be a reason for Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen to ignore the growing human rights violations by the Chinese government
", also underlines Ms. Jeannerod.
Mr. Macron will make a “
State visit
” to China from April 5 to 8, accompanied by the President of the European Commission, in particular in order to “
work
” with Xi Jinping “
in the direction of a return to peace
” in Ukraine, the Elysée announced last Friday.
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