By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 12: A Human Rights Watch report on Monday said that governments around the world should commit to pressing Beijing to respect human rights both inside and outside China, ahead of the new term that President Xi Jinping is likely to assume. “President Xi’s precedent-breaking third term bodes ill for human rights in China and around the world,” said senior HRW China researcher Yaqiu Wang, adding that it is imperative that the international community takes consequential actions to constrain abuses.
The rights organisation also said that the recent Covid lockdowns in Lhasa city and other parts of Tibet set an example of authoritarian impact of the regime on human rights. The report further stated that deaths resulting from lack of proper medical treatment gives all the more reason for Xi to step down from the highest post in the country, “In the 10 years since Xi came to power in late 2012, the authorities have decimated Chinese civil society, imprisoned numerous government critics, severely restricted freedom of speech, and deployed mass surveillance technology to monitor and control citizens.”
HRW cited the deteriorating unemployment rate for youth aged 16 to 24 which reached a record high of 20 percent. The report also highlighted how migrant workers are in dire need of help as lack of employment means they are not enrolled in social insurance programs; workers usually don’t sign formal labor contracts and employers do not have to make insurance payments on their behalf even though required by law. The findings also fault Xi Jinping’s leadership for the blatant abuse of power, as researcher Wang concluded, “A political leader with unaccountable power over citizens who are denied their rights is dangerous, not just for China, but for the world.”
Against the overwhelming state apparatus to supress the potential of the citizens to hold the government accountable, HRW called on the international community and stakeholders in the business sector to apply its leverage on China, “Foreign governments and multilateral institutions need to step up to protect rights, such as calling for the release of detained human rights activists, investing in open-source technologies that can enable people in China to more easily circumvent censorship, and banning imports made from forced labor in China.”
