My new @Diplomat_APAC op-ed is now out!

At Geneva next week, the Chinese government will try to convince a U.N. committee that it is a paragon of economic, social, and cultural rights.

A quick thread...

1/x

thediplomat.com/2023/02/how-ch… #China On February 15-16, Beijing will seek to defend its compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at a review by the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (#CESCR).

This is the first such review since 2014.

NEW: In the past 48 hours, two Chinese human rights lawyers have come under attack:

- #XieYang, who was tortured in the 709 crackdown, went missing and is presumed to be detained.

- #WangYu, the lawyer who disappearance preceded the notorious 709 crackdown, was beaten in Suzhou See here for the information on #XieYang:

https://twitter.com/CHRDnet/status/1481625489521266688?s=20

.@SteveCooperEsq: "...the time has come for citizens of all political persuasions to acknowledge: Biden flat-out lied on the campaign trail when he pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize states to stop the barbaric practice, too."

montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/… I agree with @aiww in saying that the US and West should stand up for human rights, but I also agree with @SteveCooperEsq that it is really only effective to the extent that it is not hypocritical (“the pot calling the kettle black”)

The Tracking the People's Daily substack today has a great piece summarizing Xi's Human Rights Discourses

While none of it is new per se, it does show:

1) How universal human rights laws and standards are ignored and deflected by calling them "Western"

trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/p/xis-speech-t… 2) How Xi, a leader with quasi-totalitarian ambitions and who constantly underscores the need for unity of thought and action domestically, suddenly uses the language of multiculturalism by praising diversity in the context of accepting others' human rights development paths.

Given that Chow Hang-tung had recently only called for people to engage in private commemorations of the Tiananmen Massacre, this should show everyone that banning the Vigil on the grounds of COVID was always a facade.

news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/compon… The ICCPR applies to Hong Kong, and its application is even mentioned in the National Security Law.

Authorities should abide by their duty to respect human rights and release her.

Yang Hengjun:

“The first six months, when I was in RSDL [residential surveillance at a designated location – a type of secret detention], was a really bad period. They tortured me.”

theguardian.com/world/2021/may… h/t @pjmooney The torture details here fit a consistent pattern of systematised and methodical torture, as documented by NGOs for years and years.

(See the below piece by @CHRDnet for example):

https://twitter.com/CHRDnet/status/1392817034375827457?s=20

As a Catholic who loves Francis and the encyclical #FratelliTutti, I couldn't agree more with @benedictrogers's piece below, & the sense of being "heartbroken".

There's also an added sense of irony with respect to the human rights crisis facing #Uyghurs

foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/19/pop… To some extent, the encyclical was inspired by the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, who together with Pope Francis declared:

“God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters” (see paragraph 5).