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Updated January 13, 2021
Human Rights in China
Over thirty years after the June 1989 Tiananmen Square
equipment, to reduce crime generally as well as to track the
crackdown, the Communist Party of China (CCP) remains
movements of politically sensitive groups.
firmly in power. The U.S. Department of State describes the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) as an “authoritarian
Restrictions on Free Speech
state.” PRC leaders have maintained political control
Since 2013, China has dropped four places, to 177 out of
through a mix of repression and responsiveness to some
180 countries, on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press
public preferences, delivering economic prosperity to many
Freedom Index. The nongovernmental organization
citizens, co-opting the middle and educated classes, and
Freedom House has found China to have the worst
stoking nationalism to bolster CCP legitimacy. The party is
conditions in the world for internet freedom for six
particularly vigilant against unsanctioned collective activity
consecutive years. The PRC government oversees one of
among sensitive groups, such as religious groups and ethnic
the most extensive and sophisticated internet censorship
minorities, labor organizations, political dissidents, and
systems in the world, including expansive censorship of
human rights activists.
domestic platforms and the blocking of over 20% of the
world’s most trafficked foreign websites. State authorities
The U.S. government employs various policy tools to
and private companies also monitor and regulate social
support human rights in China (see “Selected U.S. Policy
media use in order to prevent sensitive topics and
Tools” below). Since 2019, the United States has imposed
information from being discussed and disseminated.
visa, economic, and trade-related sanctions and restrictions
on some PRC officials and entities, particularly in response
The COVID-19 outbreak centered in Wuhan, China, in
to reports of mass detentions and forced labor of Uyghurs
December 2019-March 2020 highlighted the extent and the
and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province. These
costs of the lack of freedom of speech in China. After an
measures have been implemented pursuant to the Global
initial burst of online reporting by ordinary citizens about
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, Section 307
events in Wuhan, including criticism of government actions
of the Tariff Act of 1930, Export Administration
and its silencing of “whistleblower doctor” Li Wenliang,
Regulations, and other authorities.
censors began to block social media posts about the
coronavirus. Authorities detained several “citizen
Trends
journalists” for posting unauthorized reports or sensitive
Since consolidating power as CCP General Secretary and
commentary, and in December 2020, a Shanghai court
State President in 2013, Xi Jinping has accelerated the
sentenced former lawyer Zhang Zhan to four years in prison
party’s reassertion of control over society that began toward
for crimes related to her videos and social media posts
the end of the leadership term of his predecessor, Hu Jintao.
about the coronavirus and lockdown in Wuhan.
In 2015, the government detained more than 250 human
rights lawyers and activists. Authorities charged and
Arbitrary Arrest
convicted more than a dozen of them of “disturbing social
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a
order,” subversion, and other crimes, and continue to harass
human rights organization, lists roughly two-dozen high
and silence a shrinking number of rights lawyers and
profile cases of arbitrary arrest of political dissidents and
activists. Since 2017, the PRC government has enacted laws
rights defenders and activists since the beginning of 2019.
and policies that enhance the legal authority of the state to
The Dui Hua Foundation, a non-profit organization, has
counter potential ideological, social, political, and security
compiled information on over 7,500 political and religious
challenges, including the Law on Overseas
prisoners in China as of September 2020 (not including
Nongovernmental Organizations, the Cybersecurity Law,
Uyghurs detained in reeducation facilities in Xinjiang).
and the National Intelligence Law. In 2018, Xi backed a
constitutional amendment removing the previous limit of
Further Reading: CRS Report R45956, Human Rights in
two five-year-terms for the presidency, clearing the way for
China and U.S. Policy: Issues for 116th Congress; CRS Report
him potentially to stay in power indefinitely.
R43781, The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002: Background and
Implementation; CRS In Focus IF10281, Uyghurs in China; CRS
PRC methods of social and political control are evolving to
In Focus IF10803, Global Human Rights: International Religious
include sophisticated technologies. The government is
Freedom Policy; CRS In Focus IF11711, Hong Kong: Key Issues for
developing a “social credit system” that aggregates data on
2021.
individuals’ credit scores, consumer behavior, internet use,
and criminal records, and scores citizens’ “trustworthiness.”
Religious and Ethnic Minority Policies
China has deployed tens of millions of surveillance
cameras, as well as facial, voice, iris, and gait recognition
In 2016, Xi Jinping launched a policy known as
“Sinicization,” by which China’s religious practitioners and
ethnic minorities are required to “assimilate” or conform to
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Human Rights in China
Han Chinese culture, the socialist system, and CCP
employment also often involves heavy surveillance and
policies. Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China,
political indoctrination during and after work.
make up about 91% of the country’s population. New
regulations on religious practice further restrict travel to
Selected U.S. Policy Tools
foreign countries for religious reasons and contacts with
Democracy and Human Rights Programs: Since
foreign religious organizations, and tighten bans on
2001, the U.S. government has directly supported
religious practice among party members and religious
human rights, democracy, rule of law, civil society,
education of children. All religious venues now are required
to teach traditional Chinese culture and “core socialist
internet freedom, and environmental programs in China
values.”
through nongovernmental organizations, as well as
The government has intensified pressure on
programs to promote sustainable development,
Christian churches that are not officially registered to apply
environmental conservation, and preservation of
for government approval or risk closure. Authorities have
indigenous culture in Tibetan areas.
removed crosses from roughly 4,000 church buildings in
recent years, ostensibly for not complying with regulations.
National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Grants:
Tibetans
A bipartisan nongovernmental foundation funded
primarily by an annual congressional appropriation,
Human rights issues in Tibetan areas in China include the
NED has sponsored programs that promote human
curtailment of rights and freedoms to a greater degree than
rights and democracy in China since the mid-1980s.
elsewhere in China, arbitrary detention and imprisonment
of Tibetans, and ideological re-education of Tibetan
International Media: U.S. government-funded Voice
Buddhist monks and nuns. Authorities have accelerated
of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) provide
forced assimilation in Tibetan areas, including by “forcibly
external sources of independent or alternative news and
resettling and urbanizing nomads and farmers, and
opinion to audiences in China. Both media outlets
weakening Tibetan-language education in public schools
and religious education in monasteries,” according to the
broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan. RFA
Uyghur is the only Uyghur language news service
U.S. Department of State. The PRC government insists that
outside of China.
Chinese laws, and not Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions,
govern the process by which lineages of Tibetan lamas are
Targeted Legislation: Congress has enacted numerous
reincarnated, and that the state has the right to choose the
laws to respond to human rights developments and
successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 83-year-old
related issues in Tibet and Xinjiang specifically. U.S.
14th Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.
policy toward Tibet is largely guided by the Tibetan
Uyghurs
Policy Act of 2002 (Foreign Relations Authorization
Act, FY2003, P.L. 107-228). Recent Tibet-related
Since an outbreak of Uyghur demonstrations and unrest in
legislation includes the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in 2009,
of 2018 (P.L. 115-330), and the Tibetan Policy and
and sporadic clashes involving Uyghurs and Xinjiang
Support Act of 2020 (Consolidated Appropriations Act,
security personnel that spiked between 2013 and 2015, PRC
leaders have sought to “stabilize” the
FY2021, P.L. 116-260). Recent Xinjiang-focused
region through large
legislation includes the Uyghur Human Rights Policy
scale criminal arrests and more intensive security and
Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-145).
assimilation measures aimed at combatting “terrorism,
separatism and religious extremism.” Experts say that the
government’s forceful attempts to transform the thought
Targeted Sanctions: The Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act (Title XII, Subtitle F of P.L.
and customs of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group who
114-328), as implemented under Executive Order
practice a moderate form of Sunni Islam, and assimilate
13818, authorizes the President to impose economic
them into Han Chinese culture may result in the destruction
sanctions and visa denials or revocations against
of Uyghur culture and identity.
foreign individuals responsible for human rights abuses
or corruption. Other authorities also provide for visa
According to some estimates, between 2017 and 2020,
sanctions, including against the immediate family
XUAR authorities arbitrarily detained roughly 1.5 million
members of human rights abusers.
Turkic Muslims, mostly Uyghurs, in “reeducation” centers.
Detainees are compelled to renounce many of their Islamic
Export Restrictions: The United States may impose
beliefs and customs as a condition for their possible release.
restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain U.S. goods
In 2020, many detainees likely were formally convicted of
and services to PRC entities on the basis of national
crimes and placed in higher security facilities. The
security or foreign policy interests, including human
government has relocated other former detainees and their
rights, under the Export Administration Regulations.
families to residential compounds with restricted access.
Forced Labor Import Restrictions: Section 307 of
Since 2019, thousands of Uyghurs, including many former
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1307) forbids the
detainees, have been employed in textile and other labor-
importation of “goods, wares, articles, and
intensive industries in Xinjiang and other provinces, under
merchandise” into the United States that were produced
circumstances that some observers argue indicate the use of
with forced labor.
forced labor. Uyghurs who refuse to accept such
employment may be threatened with detention. Factory
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Human Rights in China
IF11240
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11240 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED