A group of human rights organisations have petitioned EU leaders to include human rights as part of discussions at the EU-China summit later this year.
The groups want the conflicts in Hong Kong, xinjiang and Tibet included among the agenda at the summit.
“We are writing to share our concerns and recommendations ahead of the forthcoming European Union (EU) – China summit. While we understand that the main topic of discussions will be the Ukraine crisis and the Chinese government’s position on it, we urge you to dedicate adequate time to also discuss those authorities’ assaults on human rights both within and increasingly outside China’s borders,” the groups said in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
The letter is penned jointly by Human Rights Watch, International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Uyghur Congress and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
The rights group said their concerns are consistent with High Representative Borrell’s remarks at the recent Munich Security Conference about the need to resist the “revisionist campaign” by the Chinese and other governments against human rights and international institutions.
In one of the demands, the right groups asked the EU to suspend the bilateral human rights dialogue and pursue a “shadow” or “structured” human rights dialogue with civil society.
