ICC Note:

Over the past few years the United States has joined in on a number of international initiatives to pressure Chinese officials regarding human rights abuses. As noted by the Washington Post, “The appeals haven’t stopped repression by the regime of Xi Jinpeng, but they have at least embarrassed it, and forced senior officials to respond.” These letters have been especially important in addressing the illegal detention and torture of human rights advocates and Christians, many of whom were working to protect other Christians and churches. They may have also contributed to their eventual release. The latest letter, dispatched on February 27th, however, is missing an important signature: that of the United States. This is in spite of the fact that the State Department has documented cases of “illegal detentions at unofficial holding facilities . . . torture and coerced confessions of prisoners and detention and harassment…” The absence of the US in the latest appeal may signal a new era of silence on the part of the US with regards to the torture of Christians and a new level of “freedom” for China to continue this policy unrestrained.

3/29/2017 China (Washington Post) – FRUSTRATED BY China’s relentless crackdown on civil society and human rights, Western governments have lately adopted the tactic of drawing up joint communications to Beijing. Last year the United States joined in at least two such initiatives, a declaration at the United Nations Human Rights Council and a letter raising concerns about new Chinese laws on cybersecurity, counterterrorism and nongovernment organizations. The appeals haven’t stopped repression by the regime of Xi Jinpeng, but they have at least embarrassed it, and forced senior officials to respond.

On Feb. 27, a new letter was dispatched to the Minister of Public Security, Guo Shengkun, on the vital subject of the torture and secret detention of a number of human rights lawyers. It was signed by 11 governments, including Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and Japan. But from China’s point of view, the big news was the signature that was missing — that of the United States. Whether intentional or not, it was another signal that the Trump administration will play down human rights in its foreign policy, granting a free pass to regimes it regards as allies or with which it hopes to cut deals.

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