GENEVA — China faces international scrutiny over its domestic policies on Tuesday in places including Hong Kong, Tibet and the western Xinjiang region, as the world power receives its latest UN-backed review of its human rights record.
An extraordinary number of more than 160 countries – some critics of Beijing, some allies – have registered to participate in a discussion about China’s human rights record. This means that each person has no more than 45 seconds to speak.
China, whose delegation will be led by its top ambassador in Geneva, Chen Xu, can field a delegation that will have up to 70 minutes to make its case.
During the ‘universal periodic review’, all UN member states are subjected to a – sometimes strict – audit by other countries roughly every five years. The hour-long discussion is intended to provide constructive criticism that will underpin a written report that will provide recommendations, not criticism.
“These are all opportunities for countries to express congratulations, criticism and recommendations. Only recommendations expressly stated as such… are taken into account in the evaluation report,” said Pascal Sim, the top spokesperson for the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, which is helping to organize the evaluations.
Several human rights groups had planned events outside China’s control, and the Tibet Advocacy Coalition, the World Uyghur Congress and human rights defenders in Hong Kong were scheduled to hold a joint press conference after the proceedings.
Another interest group wants to speak out against the forced repatriation from China of women from North Korea who fled the reclusive country under leader Kim Jong Un.
A pro-Tibet group planned a demonstration outside the UN complex in Geneva during Tuesday’s discussion.
On the eve of the hearing, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, a lawyer for Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong publisher on trial for violating national security, said she expects Lai’s case to be raised.
Western governments are expected to call for his release and for the repeal of Hong Kong’s national security law, which was imposed on the territory in 2020 to end mass civil unrest. Critics say the law has been used to suppress civil society and undermine freedom of expression
“This is an opportunity for the international community to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses in Hong Kong,” said Gallagher. “What we have seen in recent years is the dismantling of civil society, the criminalization of dissent and the criminalization of critics of the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong.”
On Monday, four independent human rights experts, working under the council’s mandate, called for Lai’s release and all charges against him to be dropped.
At China’s last review in 2018, the United States and other countries expressed concern about China’s treatment of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.