On July 24th, the EU-China Summit is set to be held in Beijing. On Thursday, July 17th, 17 human rights organizations and civil society groups, including Amnesty International, jointly wrote an open letter to EU leaders urging them to prioritize human rights in their talks with Chinese officials during the summit.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, will represent the EU at the summit. In the joint open letter addressed to both leaders, the signatory organizations urged the EU to address China’s increasingly severe human rights crisis with the same determination as it does trade and security challenges.
The open letter underlined that the repressive policies of the Chinese authorities are not limited to domestic issues but pose a growing threat to global human rights.
The coalition hopes that EU leaders will take five actions at the summit to bring justice to the victims and survivors of human rights persecution by the Chinese Communist Party:
1. Echo the findings and recommendations of UN bodies, condemn the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese government, and hold them accountable.
2. Demand the immediate and unconditional release of human rights defenders detained for their work, such as Lu Siwei, Peng Li, Wang Bingzhang, Yu Wensheng, Xu Zhiyong, and Ding Jiaxi.
3. Emphasize the G7 commitment to ending transnational repression.
4. Reaffirm that the EU and its member states are prepared to use all available tools to hold Chinese officials accountable for human rights violations, including religious and belief freedoms.
5. Stress that the EU expects the Chinese government to comply with its voluntarily assumed international human rights obligations and repeal laws and criminal provisions that contravene these obligations, such as the Hong Kong National Security Law, “provocation,” “subversion of state power,” “incitement to subvert state power,” and the “residential surveillance at a designated location” in criminal procedures.
Recently, there have been tensions between the EU and the Chinese government on economic and trade issues. Prior to the summit, cracks have appeared as the EU decided to abandon the pre-summit economic talks deemed meaningless. Subsequently, China canceled visits to technology and automobile companies in Hefei by von der Leyen and others during their visit.
Additionally, the EU hoped that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping would attend the summit. However, according to reports from Central News Agency, the EU’s request was declined by Xi Jinping, and the summit will be attended by Li Qiang instead.
The open letter concluded by emphasizing that the increasingly serious human rights abuses by the Chinese authorities should be of concern to the EU, urging them to adopt a strategy to address these issues, or else, both the Chinese and European people will face escalating risks.
Vincent Metten, the Director of ICT’s EU Policy, stated, “As the EU celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations with China, the EU must demonstrate that its commitment to human dignity and universal human rights is non-negotiable.” He added, “Safeguarding the rights of the Tibetan people, especially their right to freely determine the succession of the Dalai Lama, is a litmus test for the EU’s credibility on human rights commitments.”
The letter specifically made a crucial recommendation concerning Tibet: that the EU and its member states must be ready to use all available tools to ensure accountability for illegal actions, “including those related to religious or belief freedom rights, such as in the selection of the next Dalai Lama.”
In recent weeks, several European institutions and officials have expressed support for Tibetan Buddhist groups to determine the succession of the spiritual leader in Tibet without state interference. This includes a resolution passed by the European Parliament on May 8th and the issue being raised during the 40th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue on June 13th. On the occasion of the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama on July 6th, human rights ambassadors from seven European countries (Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the UK) issued a statement reaffirming their support for religious freedom for the Tibetan people, including the right of the Tibetan Buddhist community to select a successor.
The signatory countries also highlighted some representative individual cases, including several Tibetans arbitrarily detained. Three monks from the Gaden Monastery have been imprisoned since 2015 for peacefully celebrating the 80th birthday of the Dalai Lama, showcasing the extreme restrictions on religious freedom in Tibet and the severe retaliation faced by those who show respect to the Dalai Lama.