ED Noor: One question. Why has no government ever stood up for the Palestinians as they are regarding the Ughyra Muslims of China? Or the Rohyinga of Myanmar? Just idly asking this as food for thought.
Meanwhile China is trying to dictate to Europe and that is just not going to fly.
By Soeren Kern
SOURCE
March 31, 2021
~ notoriously feckless European officials fail
to stand firm in the face of mounting Chinese pressure, Europeans who dare
publicly to criticize the CCP in the future can expect to pay an increasingly
high personal cost for doing so.
~ "As long as human
rights are being violated, I cannot stay silent. These sanctions prove that
China is sensitive to pressure. Let this be an encouragement to all my European
colleagues: Speak out!" ~ Dutch lawmaker Sjoerd Sjoerdsma.
~ "It is our duty to
call out the Chinese government's human rights abuses in Hong Kong and their
genocide of the Uighur people. Those of us who live free lives under the rule
of law must speak for those who have no voice." ~ Former Tory leader Iain
Duncan Smith.
~ "Beijing's
strategy is to simply crush and silence any global opposition to its atrocity
by inflicting crushingly punitive measures on anyone who speaks out. A very
concerning development." ~ Adrian Zenz, German scholar.
~ "It is telling
that China now responds to even moderate criticism with sanctions, rather than
attempting to defend its actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang." ~ China
Research Group.
~ "For far too long
the EU has believed in the illusion of a middle ground." ~ Lea Dauber, Süddeutsche
Zeitung.
~ "In plain
language: Beijing wants to decide who in Europe can talk or write about
China." ~ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
~ "Beijing's
sanctions against the UK and EU ~ targeting MPs, academics, even legal groups ~
show the regime of Xi Jinping will not tolerate dissent from anyone,
anywhere." ~ Sophia Yan, China correspondent for the Telegraph.
~ "Beijing's message
is unmistakable: You must choose. If you want to do business in China, it must
be at the expense of American values. You will meticulously ignore the genocide
of ethnic and religious minorities inside China's borders; you must disregard
that Beijing has reneged on its major promises ~ including the international
treaty guaranteeing a 'high degree of autonomy' for Hong Kong; and you must
stop engaging with security-minded officials in your own capital unless it's to
lobby them on Beijing's behalf." ~ Matt Pottinger, former deputy White
House national security adviser, Wall Street Journal.
China has imposed sanctions on more
than two dozen European and British lawmakers, academics and think tanks. The
move comes after the European Union and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on
Chinese officials for human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region.
China contends that its sanctions are
tit for tat ~ morally equivalent retaliation ~ in response to those imposed by
Western countries. This is false. The European sanctions are for crimes against
humanity, whereas the Chinese sanctions seek to silence European critics of the
Chinese Communist Party.
The current standoff is, in essence,
about the future of free speech in Europe. If notoriously feckless European
officials fail to stand firm in the face of mounting Chinese pressure,
Europeans who dare publicly to criticize the CCP in the future can expect to
pay an increasingly high personal cost for doing so.
On March 22, the European Union and the
United Kingdom announced (here and here) that they
had imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials accused of responsibility for
abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, a remote autonomous region in
northwestern China.
Human rights experts say at least one
million Muslims are being detained in up to
380 internment camps, where they are subject to torture, mass rapes, forced labor and sterilizations.
After first denying the existence of the camps, China now says that they
provide vocational education and training.
Among those targeted by the EU are Chen
Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB). In its
Official Journal, the EU stated:
"As Director of the XPSB, Chen
Mingguo holds a key position in Xinjiang's security apparatus and is directly
involved in implementing a large-scale surveillance, detention and
indoctrination program targeting Uyghurs and people from other Muslim ethnic
minorities. In particular, the XPSB has deployed the 'Integrated Joint
Operations Platform' (IJOP), a big data program used to track millions of
Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region and flag those deemed 'potentially threatening'
to be sent to detention camps. Chen Mingguo is therefore responsible for
serious human rights violations in China, in particular arbitrary detentions
and degrading treatment inflicted upon Uyghurs and people from other Muslim
ethnic minorities, as well as systematic violations of their freedom of religion
or belief."
The EU sanctions, which involve travel
bans and asset freezes, conspicuously exclude the top official in Xinjiang,
Chen Quanguo, who has been targeted by U.S. sanctions since July
2020. The EU apparently was attempting to show restraint in an effort to
forestall an escalation by China.
The Chinese government responded to the
EU sanctions within minutes by announcing its
own sanctions on 14 European individuals and entities. The individuals and
their families are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and
Macao. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also
restricted from doing business with China.
Those prohibited from entering China or
doing business with it are German politician Reinhard Bütikofer, who chairs the
European Parliament's delegation to China, Michael Gahler, Raphaël Glucksmann,
Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Miriam Lexmann, all Members of the European Parliament,
Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma of the Dutch Parliament, Samuel Cogolati of the Belgian
Parliament, Dovilė Šakalienė of the Seimas of Lithuania, German scholar Adrian
Zenz, and Swedish scholar Björn Jerdén.
The ten individuals have publicly
criticized the Chinese government for human rights abuses. Sjoerdsma, for
instance, recently called for a
boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. Cogolati and Šakalienė have
drafted genocide legislation, while Zenz has written
extensively on the detention camps in Xinjiang.
China also sanctioned the EU's main
foreign policy decision-making body, known as the Political and Security
Committee, as well as the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights,
the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies, and the Alliance of
Democracies Foundation, a Danish think tank founded by former NATO
secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
In a March 22 statement, China's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:
"The Chinese side urges the EU
side to reflect on itself, face squarely the severity of its mistake and
redress it. It must stop lecturing others on human rights and interfering in
their internal affairs. It must end the hypocritical practice of double
standards and stop going further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will
resolutely make further reactions."
A few days later, on March 26, China announced
sanctions on nine British individuals and four entities. The individuals
include Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O'Brien, David Alton, Tim
Loughton, Nusrat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nicola Smith
Finley. The entities include China Research Group, Conservative Party Human
Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal and the Essex Court Chambers.
On March 27, China announced
additional sanctions on Americans and Canadian individuals and entities.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Canada and
the United States to "stop political manipulation" or "they will
get their fingers burnt."
EU-China Investment Deal
The EU sanctions, the first such
punitive measure against China since an EU arms embargo was imposed in 1989
after the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy crackdown, appear to indicate that
both the EU and the UK plan to follow the United States and pursue a harder
line against human rights abuses by the Chinese government.
The bedrock of EU-China relations has
always been economic, and European leaders have long been accused of
downplaying human rights abuses in China to protect European business interests
there.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French
President Emmanuel Macron, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von
der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel recently negotiated a
controversial trade deal with China.
The so-called Comprehensive Agreement
on Investment (CAI), concluded on
December 30, was negotiated in great haste. Merkel, facing pressure
from both China and German industry, reportedly wanted
an agreement at any cost before Germany's six-month EU presidency ended on December 31, 2020.
The lopsided agreement, which
ostensibly aims to level the economic and financial playing field by providing
European companies with improved access to the Chinese market, actually allows
China to continue to restrict
investment opportunities for European companies in many strategic sectors.
One week after the deal was signed,
China launched a massive crackdown on
democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Now that China has imposed sanctions on
European lawmakers, the investment agreement may never see the light of day.
"It seems unthinkable that our Parliament would even entertain the idea of
ratifying an agreement while its members and one of its committees are under
sanctions," said MEP Marie-Pierre
Vedrenne, a parliamentary point-person for the EU-China deal.
European Responses
The President of the European
Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has been strangely silent regarding the
Chinese sanctions. Others have been outspoken in their criticism:
"We sanction people who violate
human rights, not parliamentarians, as has now been done by the Chinese
side," said German
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. "This is neither comprehensible nor
acceptable for us."
After being put on China's sanctions
list, Dutch lawmaker Sjoerd Sjoerdsma tweeted:
"As long as human rights are being
violated, I cannot stay silent. These sanctions prove that China is sensitive
to pressure. Let this be an encouragement to all my European colleagues: Speak
out!"
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
invited several of the MPs hit by Chinese sanctions to Downing Street. He tweeted:
"This morning I spoke with some of
those who have been shining a light on the gross human rights violations being
perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims. I stand firmly with them and the other
British citizens sanctioned by China."
Johnson referred to the
parliamentarians as "warriors in the fight for free speech" who have
his "full-throated support" and expressed bafflement at Beijing's
"ridiculous" actions.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab added:
"It speaks volumes that, while the
UK joins the international community in sanctioning those responsible for human
rights abuses, the Chinese government sanctions its critics. If Beijing wants
to credibly rebut claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it should allow
the UN high commissioner for human rights full access to verify the
truth."
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith tweeted:
"It is our duty to call out the
Chinese government's human rights abuses in Hong Kong and their genocide of the
Uighur people. Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak
for those who have no voice. If that brings the anger of China down upon me the
I shall wear that as a badge of honor."
Labour MP Lisa Nandy, in an interview
with the BBC, said:
"This is incredibly serious. It's
a direct attempt to silence and intimidate those who criticize the actions of
the Chinese government. If China thinks that this will silence critics, they
are completely mistaken....
"This will only strengthen our
resolve to be more vocal and more resolute in calling out and challenging the
grotesque human rights abuses that we've seen coming out of Xinjiang and the
clampdown on democracy in Hong Kong. We are British Parliamentarians who will
not be divided on this. Whatever political tradition we come from, we are first
and foremost democrats and we will stand up for those values, especially when
they are under attack."
MP Tom Tugendhat, Chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, in an interview with the BBC, said:
"What we are seeing at the moment
is a vulnerable and weak China that has failed in its democratic outreach to
states around the region, it has failed to undermine the coalition of countries
that are standing up for human rights and it has failed to undermine the
connection between the UK, the US and indeed Europe, so what they are doing is
lashing out.
"Sadly, this is a sign of weakness
and not a sign of strength and a demonstration that President Xi is failing the
Chinese people, the Chinese Community Party and, indeed, failing the whole
world."
British academic Jo Smith Finley tweeted:
"It seems I am to be sanctioned by
the PRC (Chinese) government for speaking the truth about the #Uyghur tragedy
in #Xinjiang, and for having a conscience. Well, so be it. I have no regrets
for speaking out, and I will not be silenced."
Adrian Zenz, a German scholar subject
to Chinese sanctions, tweeted:
"Beijing's strategy on Xinjiang is
fundamentally shifting. Their goal is not mainly to erase the evidence,
although they do that. It is now also less about denying said evidence,
although they still do it. Rather, they now feel untouchable about it all.
"Beijing's strategy is to simply
crush and silence any global opposition to its atrocity by inflicting
crushingly punitive measures on anyone who speaks out. A very concerning
development."
The China Research Group, which was
established by a group of Conservative MPs in the UK to promote debate and
fresh thinking about how Britain should respond to the rise of China, concluded:
"It is tempting to laugh off this
measure as a diplomatic tantrum. But in reality it is profoundly sinister and
just serves as a clear demonstration of many of the concerns we have been
raising about the direction of China under Xi Jinping. Other mainstream
European think tanks have also been sanctioned this week and it is telling that
China now responds to even moderate criticism with sanctions, rather than
attempting to defend its actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang."
The founder of the Alliance of
Democracies Foundation, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said:
"We will never give in to bullying
by authoritarian states. Our work to promote freedom, democracy and human
rights around the world will continue. China has once again highlighted the
urgent need for democracies to unite in stemming the tide of autocracy in our
world."
Select Commentary
In an editorial, the Financial Times
wrote that the
EU's sanctions on China are a sign of Western resolve on China.
"China retaliated against EU
sanctions by punishing several parliamentarians, analysts, and Merics, a
think-tank on China based in Berlin known for its judicious analysis. It also
targeted the committee of 27 member-state ambassadors to the EU who oversee
foreign and security policy. Beijing has in recent years used a
divide-and-conquer approach with national capitals to undermine a common EU
front. With its Xinjiang abuses and overreaction on sanctions, Beijing has
managed the rare feat of uniting the EU on a foreign policy issue.
"By targeting critics of its
actions and analysts who refuse to toe its line, Beijing has demonstrated its
totalitarian mindset. By punishing European Parliament members, it has made it
all but impossible for that legislature to ratify the investment agreement.
MEPs were already clamoring for more concessions from Beijing, namely the
adoption of international standards outlawing forced labor. China will need to
make a double retreat to put the deal back on track, which seems unlikely.
Having used the investment deal to drive a monetary wedge between Washington
and Brussels, Beijing may feel it can dispense with it."
The Guardian, in an editorial, wrote:
"The sanctions have drastically
lowered the odds of the European parliament approving the investment deal which
China and the EU agreed in December, to US annoyance. Beijing may think the
agreement less useful to China than it is to the EU (though many in Europe
disagree). But the measures have done more to push Europe towards alignment
with the US than anything Joe Biden could have offered, at a time when China is
also alienating other players, notably Australia....
"Beijing's delayed response to the
UK sanctions suggests it did not anticipate them, perhaps unsurprising when the
integrated review suggested we should somehow court trade and investment while
also taking a tougher line. But the prime minister and foreign secretary have,
rightly, made their support for sanctioned individuals and their concerns about
gross human rights violations in Xinjiang clear. Academics and politicians,
universities and other institutions, should follow their lead in backing
targeted colleagues and bodies. China has made its position plain. So should
democratic societies."
Lea Deuber, China correspondent for Süddeutsche
Zeitung, wrote:
"In response to European sanctions
against those responsible for human rights crimes in Xinjiang, Beijing is
sanctioning European politicians, academics and research institutes. The
sanctions must not be understood as a threat against individuals. They are an
attack on the entire European Union, on its fundamental values and
freedom.
"Beijing accuses the EU of
questioning China's sovereignty. In reality, the regime is trying to force the
European Union to take sides in the dispute between the U.S. and China through
violence and manipulation. The escalation must be a wake-up call.
"For far too long the EU has
believed in the illusion of a middle ground. With a view to the cruel conduct
in Xinjiang, Brussels waited for years, only appealing again and again. Even
with the sanctions, Brussels had sought a softened solution, disregarding
important Chinese players in the region.
"That must come to an end. Berlin
must draw conclusions. At the end of last year, contrary to all warnings, the
German government pushed through the investment agreement with China. This
still has to be ratified by the EU Parliament. That is now unthinkable."
The Frankfurter Allgemeine, in
an article titled, "Anyone Who Does Not Sing Beijing's Song Will be
Punished," wrote: "In
plain language: Beijing wants to decide who in Europe can talk or write about
China."
UK MP Nusrat Ghani, writing for the Spectator,
noted:
"There is a positive side to all
this. The reaction from the Chinese Communist Party shows that some of the work
going on in Parliament is having an effect ~ and is reaching the ears of those
who matter in Beijing. Twelve months ago, the abuse of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang
was only whispered about in Parliament. There was no sense that the UK's supply
chains might be affected, or that we could bring about real change. Now the
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, of which I am a member, has
held an inquiry into forced labor in UK value chains, and we have found
'compelling evidence' of Chinese slave labor links to major brands.
"The Chinese authorities should
realize that their actions today have laid down a challenge for Parliament.
They have essentially told MPs to stop asking questions and to mind their own
business. Throughout its history, our Parliament has never much liked that
attitude. I can assure the Chinese Communist Party that I and my fellow MPs
will continue to shine a light on their activities, and that Parliament ~ more
than ever ~ stands behind us."
Robin Brandt, Shanghai correspondent
for the BBC, wrote:
"China has gone for the people
exerting the most pressure on Boris Johnson to be tough on China. It's gone for
the people who say 'genocide' has happened in Xinjiang.
"The measures are essentially
tokenistic ~ it's unlikely these people or entities did any business with
Chinese firms or people anyway.
"Targeting Neil O'Brien is
personal for the UK prime minister. The MP is in charge of leading policy in
Downing Street.
"Going after Essex Court Chambers ~
a group of self-employed barristers ~ for a legal opinion it reached also shows
you how China views an independent judicial system. It doesn't believe in
them."
Sophia Yan, China correspondent for the
Telegraph, in an analysis, wrote:
"Beijing's sanctions against the
UK and EU ~ targeting MPs, academics, even legal groups — show the regime of Xi
Jinping will not tolerate dissent from anyone, anywhere....
"China is flexing its muscles to
challenge a rules-based world order set by the West in a campaign to be treated
as an equal. It plays well at home.
"But there are genuine questions
over whether the show of force is wise. Beijing's behavior is certainly not
winning hearts and minds, and instead appears to be doing damage to its
international standing.
"Beijing has long bet that most
countries would be wooed by lucrative opportunities with the world's
second-largest economy.
"How long that will continue to be
the case remains to be seen. Britain, for its part, is unlikely to step back
from its criticism of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and it's hard to see how
China could cool tensions if it wanted to....
"A key test of whether Beijing can
get away with throwing its weight around like this will be whether the EU moves
to ratify an investment agreement with China. It has been in the works for
seven years, but EU officials were expressing doubts even before they were hit
with sanctions.
"Whether the deal is approved,
renegotiated, or scrapped entirely will send a message to Beijing ~ either that
it can indeed do what it wants, or that it's crossed a line."
Writing for the Wall Street Journal,
Matt Pottinger, former deputy White House national security adviser, concluded:
"Beijing's message is
unmistakable: You must choose. If you want to do business in China, it must be at
the expense of American values. You will meticulously ignore the genocide of
ethnic and religious minorities inside China's borders; you must disregard that
Beijing has reneged on its major promises—including the international treaty
guaranteeing a 'high degree of autonomy' for Hong Kong; and you must stop
engaging with security-minded officials in your own capital unless it's to
lobby them on Beijing's behalf.
"Another notable element of
Beijing's approach is its explicit goal of making the world permanently
dependent on China, and exploiting that dependency for political ends. Mr. Xi
has issued guidance, institutionalized this month by his rubber-stamp
parliament, that he's pursuing a grand strategy of making China independent of
high-end imports from industrialized nations while making those nations heavily
reliant on China for high-tech supplies and as a market for raw materials. In
other words, decoupling is precisely Beijing's strategy ~ so long as it's on
Beijing's terms.
"Even more remarkable, the Communist
Party is no longer hiding its reasons for pursuing such a strategy. In a speech
Mr. Xi delivered early last year...he said China 'must tighten international
production chains' dependence on China' with the aim of 'forming powerful
countermeasures and deterrent capabilities.'
"This phrase ~ 'powerful
countermeasures and deterrent capabilities' ~ is party jargon for offensive
leverage. Beijing's grand strategy is to accumulate and exert economic leverage
to achieve its political objectives around the world.
"CEOs will find it increasingly
difficult to please both Washington and Beijing.... Chinese leaders, as
mentioned, are issuing high-decibel warnings that multinationals must abandon
such values as the price of doing business in China. Like sailors straddling
two boats, American companies are likely to get wet.
"Beijing is trying to engineer
victory from the mind of a single leader; free societies like ours harness the
human spirit. Therein lies our ultimate advantage. The Communist Party's
leaders are right about one thing: American CEOs, their boards and their
investors have to decide which side they want to help win."
Soeren
Kern
is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
