Human rights commission\u2019s report details crackdown on human rights lawyers, Hong Kong booksellers and journalists<\/p>\n
Tom Phillips in Beijing
Monday 27 June 2016 00.03 EDT<\/p>\n
Britain should reconsider its \u201cgolden\u201d friendship with China as a result of the unprecedented human rights crisis unfolding under president Xi Jinping<\/a>, Conservative party MPs will warn this week.<\/p>\n In a report set to be launched in Westminster on Tuesday afternoon, MPs and activists will chronicle the rapidly deteriorating situation since Xi took power in late 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report, called The Darkest Moment, details a severe crackdown on human rights lawyers<\/a>, the suspected abduction by Chinese security agents<\/a> of a group of Hong Kong booksellers, the growing use of televised forced confessions<\/a> andattempts to cow free speech<\/a> by detaining dissidents, bloggers and journalists.<\/p>\n Fiona Bruce, the chairman of the Conservative party\u2019s human rights commission, said witnesses heard by her group complained of \u201ca severe deterioration in human rights\u201d under Xi, revealing what some now believed was the most intense crackdown since the roundup of protesters following the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.<\/p>\n \u201cChina is not what it was five years ago,\u201d China<\/a> expert Christopher Hancock said in a statement issued by the report\u2019s authors. \u201cIt has undergone a 180-degree turn in its political ethos.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOutsiders should not attempt – and will always fail – to change China\u2019s political and social behaviour,\u201d Hancock added. \u201cHowever, British citizens can, and must, attempt to change their government\u2019s hitherto misguided response to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Osborne flew into one of China\u2019s most politically sensitive regions<\/a> last September in a bid to cement the new relationship while Xi praised Britain\u2019s \u201cvisionary and strategic choice\u201d to become Beijing\u2019s best friend in the west<\/a> during a state visit to Britain the following month.<\/p>\n To the dismay of some in the Foreign Office, the strategic pivot towards the world\u2019s second largest economy has been spearheaded by the Treasury, with some dubbing it the \u201cOsborne doctrine\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Downing Street\u2019s attempts to woo Beijing have infuriated human rights activists, coinciding with a period of severe political repression in China that has seen security forces embark on a wide-ranging offensive against activists, human rights lawyers, outspoken academics and publishers.<\/p>\n Earlier this month pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong accused China\u2019s leaders of acting like \u201cpolitical thugs\u201d and \u201cgangsters\u201d<\/a> by allegedly ordering special forces to abduct a group of booksellers who specialised in books critical of the party elite.<\/p>\n Nearly a year after a major offensive against human rights lawyers and activists began, more than 20 people remain in custody<\/a> facing political subversion charges that could see them jailed for life.<\/p>\n British criticism of the crackdown on lawyers has been muted with officials largely preferring to voice their concerns through EU statements<\/a>, something that may no longer be possible following last week\u2019s decision to leave the union.<\/p>\n The authors of the Conservative report – which is being published just days after Cameron announced the end of his six-year premiership<\/a> in the wake of Brexit – argue this must now change.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of [Xi\u2019s crackdown], we believe it is time for the UK government to rethink its approach to China, to speak out publicly and consistently on human rights, and consider ways it can more effectively promote and protect basic rights that are being gravely violated in mainland China and in Hong Kong,\u201d the Conservative party human rights commission said in a statement.<\/p>\n It added: \u201cWhile we recognise the strategic and economic significance of China, we do not believe that it is in anyone\u2019s interests for the United Kingdom government to be almost silent, publicly, on human rights, in light of such a grave deterioration.\u201d<\/p>\n Analysts believe that irrespective of whether Cameron\u2019s successor chooses to end or intensify Britain\u2019s courtship of China, Beijing itself will be far less interested in the \u201cgolden\u201d relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cBrexit condemns the golden thing to history, I think,\u201d said Nick Bisley, a professor of international relations and the executive director of La Trobe Asia.<\/p>\n \u201cBritain\u2019s stock has declined and Britain will be less important to China in its view of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The report, which will be launched by Conservative peer Lord Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, calls for a \u201cthorough review\u201d of Britain\u2019s policy towards China.<\/p>\n Those who gave testimony to the commission include Joshua Wong<\/a>, a prominent leader of the umbrella movement protests, and Teng Biao<\/a>, a human rights lawyer who was forced to flee China with his family after Xi took power.<\/p>\n In a statement, Chris Patten, whose battles with Beijing over the former British colony saw the Communist party label him \u201cthe triple violator\u201d, said Downing Street had to react to \u201cChina\u2019s increasingly deplorable human rights record\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Human rights commission\u2019s report details crackdown on human rights lawyers, Hong Kong booksellers and 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