Britain criticised for praising China on UN Human Rights Day

December 14, 2015;

By Christy Yao, The Guardian-11 December 2015

Activists attack ‘unacceptable’ statement by UK embassy, which lauds Beijing over civil and political rights but overlooks crackdown on critics

Britain has sparked consternation among activists after marking the United Nations’ Human Rights Day by quoting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and praising what it said were Beijing’s attempts to better protect the civil and political rights of its citizens.

In a statement commemorating the event on Thursday, the British embassy in Beijing made no mention of the severe political crackdown under way in China and has seen hundreds of government critics harassed, detained or jailed.

“China has taken strides to better protect civil and political rights by abolishing re-education through labour [camps]. Current reforms aim to produce a more transparent and professional justice system,” it said.

“But as President Xi said during the joint press conference with prime minister [David] Cameron in October, ‘there is always room for improvement’, and the UK will continue to work closely with China to this end.”

The British pronouncement stood in stark contrast to criticism that the US, Germany and Canada levelled at Beijing this week over its human rights record.

Canada’s ambassador in Beijing, Guy Saint-Jacques, said he had “witnessed a worrisome increase in the number of Chinese citizens jailed merely for peacefully expressing their views, as well as attempts to silence critics outside of China”.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Beijing, Max Baucus, accused Beijing of treating peaceful activists and human rights lawyers as “enemies”.

In a statement marking Human Rights Day, he said: “We remain concerned over the crackdown on human rights lawyers and others who seek peacefully to contribute their views to the public discourse on the future of China. In some cases, these Chinese citizens have been detained in secret locations without access to their families or their lawyers. This is deeply troubling and calls into question China’s commitment to the rule of law.”

Since coming to power in November 2012, Xi has overseen what campaigners say is one of the most ferocious crackdowns on Chinese activists and opponents in decades.

That offensive against foes will reach a pinnacle on Monday with the trial of Pu Zhiqiang, a respected civil rights lawyer and freedom of speech champion.

Critics accuse Britain of failing to speak out over Xi’s crackdown for fear of compromising Downing Street’s fight to make Britain China’s “best friend in the west”.

Hu Jia, one of the most outspoken human rights activists still living in mainland China, said he had been stunned by the embassy’s “unacceptable” statement.

“When I saw this statement, I felt like I was reading the Global Times,” he said, referring to the Communist party-controlled tabloid whose raison d’être is to heap praise on Beijing. “This is appalling.”

Britain was “trading its principles” to boost economic ties with Beijing and ignoring those whose rights were being “trampled under foot” by Xi’s government, Hu claimed. “I cannot hide my disappointment with the British government’s statement.”

Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch, said: “Apparently the UK has achieved both austerity and clarity on its human rights policy towards China by simply allowing the latter to pen the UK’s human rights day statements.”

There was also online criticism of the British statement.

“That’s some serious shoe shining,” one critic wrote on Twitter.

“An unambiguous expression of the UK’s new posture on China and human rights,” wrote another.

Responding to criticism, a spokesperson for the British embassy in Beijing said: “The UK is firmly committed to supporting universal human rights and our activity worldwide to mark international Human Rights Day is a reflection of that.

“It is well known that we have outstanding concerns about a range of civil and political rights issues in China and monitor developments closely as we set out in our annual human rights report. The most recent report was published in March this year, with a six-monthly update published in July.

“We have a strong and mature relationship with China which means that we can talk about our differences frankly and with mutual respect.”

On Friday, Human Rights Watch urged the British ambassador to Beijing, Barbara Woodward, and 35 fellow ambassadors to attend next week’s trial of lawyer Pu Zhiqiang.

“Not only would this significantly raise the price for Beijing as it calculates just how long to lock Pu away, it would also send a powerful message of support to those facing similar reprisals as Pu,” the human rights group said.

The embassy spokesperson indicated that the British ambassador would not heed that call.

“The British embassy has followed the case of Pu Zhiqiang closely along with other human rights lawyers currently facing similar circumstances. The UK consistently seeks to observe trials in major cases of concern and will be represented at the trial on Monday by an embassy official from the political section,” the spokesperson said.

During a visit to China’s violence-stricken west in September, the British chancellor, George Osborne, said the UK government would refuse to engage in “megaphone diplomacy” with his hosts.