The EU-China Human Rights Dialogue resumed with the 38th session in Brussels on 17 February. The previous session took place in April 2019.
The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS), Paola Pampaloni, and the Director General for International Organisations and Conferences at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sun Lei.
According to the EEAS, the EU has widely expressed its concerns about “persistent restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the use of forced labour, limitations on procedural rights and the lack of judicial independence in China”.
The case of Uyghurs, Tibetans and people belonging to religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities was raised. With regard to the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province, the EU stressed the urgency of implementing the recommendations of the report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 31 August (see EUROPE 13012/18).
The EU urged China to investigate and stop violations of human rights and international law and referred to cases of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment.
In addition, both sides discussed the effectiveness of international human rights mechanisms and the EU took the opportunity to stress that “no country should refuse scrutiny of its record and actions on human rights”.
Beijing in turn denounced the treatment of refugees and migrants in the EU as well as manifestations of racism and xenophobia.
According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the EU should suspend this human rights dialogue with Beijing, given the magnitude of the human rights crisis in China and the impunity it enjoys, the NGO said. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)