Updated April 6, 2020
Human Rights in China
Over thirty years after the June 1989 Tiananmen Square
PRC methods of social and political control are evolving to
crackdown, the Communist Party of China (CCP) remains
include sophisticated technologies. The government seeks
firmly in power. People’s Republic of China (PRC) leaders
to develop a “social credit system” that aggregates data on
have maintained political control through a mix of
individuals’ credit scores, consumer behavior, internet use,
repression and responsiveness to some public preferences,
and criminal records, and scores citizens’ “trustworthiness.”
delivering economic prosperity to many citizens, co-opting
China has deployed tens of millions of surveillance
the middle and educated classes, and stoking nationalism to
cameras, as well as facial, voice, iris, and gait recognition
bolster CCP legitimacy. The party is particularly wary of
equipment, to reduce crime generally as well as to track the
unsanctioned collective activity related to sensitive groups,
movements of ethnic Tibetans and Uyghurs and other
such as religious and labor groups, ethnic minorities,
sensitive groups.
political dissidents, and human rights activists. PRC
authorities have implemented particularly harsh policies
The government’s response to the Coronavirus outbreak
against Tibetans, Uyghurs, and followers of the Falun Gong
that was centered in Wuhan, China, in January-March 2020
spiritual exercise.
highlighted the PRC’s expansive social control apparatus,
and in particular its restrictions on freedom of expression.
Trends
The case of “whistleblower doctor” Li Wenliang, who was
Under the previous PRC leader, Hu Jintao (2002-2012), the
reprimanded by Wuhan authorities after he communicated
CCP tolerated limited public criticism of state policies and
on social media his concerns about the new virus, three
some human rights advocacy around issues not seen as
weeks before government media acknowledged it, elicited
threatening to CCP control. During the final years of Hu’s
online calls for free speech. Li contracted the Coronavirus
term, however, the party began to reassert its control over
from a patient and died on February 7, 2020. The
society, a trend that has intensified and expanded since
government then further censored unauthorized online
2013 under the leadership of CCP General Secretary and
discussion about the virus and the government’s response,
State President Xi Jinping. One of Xi’s first targets was the
and detained independent reporters.
budding network of Chinese rights activists, including the
detention in July 2015 of more than 250 human rights
Further Reading: CRS Report R45956, Human Rights in
lawyers and associates. Authorities charged and convicted
China and U.S. Policy: Issues for the 116th Congress, by Thomas
more than a dozen of them of subversion, “disturbing social
Lum and Michael A. Weber; CRS Report R43781, The Tibetan
order,” and other crimes.
Policy Act of 2002: Background and Implementation, by Susan V.
Lawrence; CRS In Focus IF10281, Uyghurs in China, by Thomas
The PRC government has enacted laws and policies that
Lum; and CRS In Focus IF10803, Global Human Rights:
enhance the legal authority of the state to counter potential
International Religious Freedom Policy, by Michael A. Weber.
ideological, social, political, and security challenges,
including three new major laws in 2017. A law regulating
Religious and Ethnic Minority Policies
foreign non-governmental organizations places them under
the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security, tightens
In 2016, President Xi launched a policy known as
“Sinicization,” by which China’s religious practitioners and
their registration requirements, and imposes greater controls
on their activities, funding, and staffing. The Cybersecurity
ethnic minorities are required to conform to Chinese
Law gives the government broad powers to control and
culture, the socialist system, and communist party policies.
restrict internet traffic, and places greater burdens upon
Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China, make up
about 91% of the country’s population and dominate its
private internet service providers to monitor online content
culture. The party’s Sinicization policy and
and assist public security organs. The National Intelligence
the 2018
Law obliges individuals, organizations, and institutions to
amendments to the government’s Regulations on Religious
assist and cooperate with state intelligence efforts.
Affairs have affected all religions to varying degrees. New
policies further restrict religious travel to foreign countries
Since 2013, China has dropped three places, from 173 to
and contacts with foreign religious organizations and
177 (out of 180 countries), on Reporters Without Borders’
tighten bans on religious practice among party members
World Press Freedom Index. The government blocks access
and religious education of children. All religious venues
to 8 of the 25 busiest global sites. State authorities and
now are required to raise the national flag and teach
traditional Chinese culture and “core socialist values.”
private companies also monitor and regulate social media
use in order to prevent sensitive topics and information
China’s Siniciz
from being discussed and disseminated.
ation campaign has intensified government
efforts to pressure Christian churches that are not formally
approved by the government, and hundreds reportedly have
been shut down in recent years. PRC authorities have
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Human Rights in China
ordered mosques throughout China to be “Sinicized”—
NED has sponsored programs that promote human
minarets have been taken down, onion domes have been
rights and democracy in China since the mid-1980s.
replaced by traditional Chinese roofs, and Islamic motifs
International Media: U.S. government-funded Voice
and Arabic writings have been removed.
of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) provide
external sources of independent or alternative news and
Tibetans
opinion to audiences in China. Both media outlets
Following anti-government protests during the spring of
broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan. RFA
2008, authorities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR)
Uyghur is the only Uyghur language news service
and other Tibetan areas in China imposed more intrusive
outside of China.
controls on Tibetan religious life and culture. These include
The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 (P.L.
the curtailment of rights and freedoms to a greater degree
115-330): Requires the Department of State to report to
than elsewhere in China, arbitrary detention and
Congress annually regarding the level of access PRC
imprisonment of Tibetans, and ideological re-education of
authorities grant U.S. diplomats, journalists, and
Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns. The PRC government
tourists to Tibetan areas in China, and bars entry into
insists that Chinese laws, and not Tibetan Buddhist
the United States or revokes U.S. visas of PRC
religious traditions, govern the process by which lineages of
individuals involved in policies that restrict U.S. access
Tibetan lamas are reincarnated, and that the state has the
to Tibet.
right to choose the successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader,
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights
the 83-year-old 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.
Accountability Act (P.L. 114-328, Subtitle F, Title
XII): Authorizes the President to impose economic
Uyghurs
sanctions and visa denials or revocations against
In the past decade, PRC authorities have imposed severe
foreign individuals responsible for “gross violations of
restrictions on the religious and cultural activities of
internationally recognized human rights.”
Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group who practice a moderate
Export Restrictions: The United States may impose
form of Sunni Islam and live primarily in the Xinjiang
restrictions on the export of U.S. goods and services to
Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Demonstrations by
Chinese entities on the basis of human rights concerns.
Uyghurs and ethnic unrest erupted in 2009, including
In October 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce
Uyghur violence against Han Chinese and government
announced the addition of 28 PRC entities to the
reprisals. Subsequent periodic clashes between Uyghurs
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) “entity list”
and Xinjiang security personnel spiked between 2013 and
under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
2015. PRC leaders sought to “stabilize” the XUAR through
because of the role of these entities in human rights
more intensive security measures, including arrests,
abuses in Xinjiang.
extensive electronic surveillance and monitoring of internet
Forced Labor Import Restrictions. Section 307 of
use, and collecting biometric data of Uyghurs for
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307) forbids the
identification purposes.
importation of “goods, wares, articles, and
merchandise” into the United States that were produced
Since 2017, the XUAR government has arbitrarily detained
with forced labor. Pursuant to this provision, in
up to an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs, out of a population
October 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
of about 10.5 million, and a smaller number of ethnic
blocked the import of certain apparel items produced
Kazakhs, in ideological re-education centers. Many of them
by a Chinese company believed to have used forced
had engaged in traditional religious and ethnic cultural
labor in Xinjiang.
practices that the government now perceives as manifesting
The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (Foreign Relations
“strong religious views” that may constitute or lead to
Authorization Act, FY2003, P.L. 107-228) supports
separatism, extremism, or terrorism. Since 2019, thousands
“the aspirations of the Tibetan people to safeguard their
of Uyghurs, including many former detainees, reportedly
distinct identity.” The act established in the
have been employed in textile and other labor-intensive
Department of State the position of Special
industries in Xinjiang and other provinces, under
Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, which has been vacant
circumstances that some observers argue indicate the use of
since 2017.
forced labor. Experts say that the government’s forceful
International Financial Institutions: The Tibetan
attempts to transform the thought and customs of Uyghurs
Policy Act of 2002 and annual foreign operations
and assimilate them into Han culture will result in the
appropriations legislation permit U.S. representatives
destruction of Uyghur culture and identity.
to international financial institutions to support projects
in Tibet only if they do not encourage the migration
Selected Policy Tools
and settlement of non-Tibetans into Tibet or the
transfer of Tibetan-owned properties to non-Tibetans.
Democracy Programs: Since 2001, the Department of
State has administered human rights, democracy, rule
Selected Recent Legislation
of law, civil society, internet freedom, and
Bills introduced in the 116th Congress related to human
environmental programs in China and promoted
rights in China include S. 178; H.R. 1025; S. 2386; S. 2972;
sustainable development, environmental conservation,
H.R. 4331; H.R. 6210; and S. 3471.
and preservation of indigenous culture in Tibetan areas.
National Endowment for Democracy (NED): Funded
primarily by an annual congressional appropriation,
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Human Rights in China
IF11240
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11240 · VERSION 5 · UPDATED