December 6, 2022
China Primer: Human Rights
Overview
Selected Human Rights Issues
The U.S. Department of State describes the People’s
Under Xi’s leadership, China has further restricted and
Republic of China (PRC, or China) as an “authoritarian
suppressed civil society, religious groups, human rights
state in which the Communist Party of China [CPC] is the
defenders, speech, the press, and academic discourse. The
paramount authority.” Some analysts argue China has been
party-state has closed much of the space that had previously
moving in a totalitarian direction, as it is characterized by a
existed for limited social activism. The PRC oversees one
leadership that is dominated by one person, CPC General
of the most extensive and stringent internet censorship
Secretary Xi Jinping, increasing enforcement of ideological
systems in the world, which includes blocking major
conformity, and greater party-state control over society
foreign news and social media sites, censoring domestic
enhanced by the use of digital technologies. In October
social media platforms, and banning foreign messaging
2022, the 20th Central Committee of the CPC selected Xi to
apps. A locally-produced online video (“Voices of April”)
serve a norm-breaking third five-year term.
depicting the 2022 COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai
circulated widely before authorities blocked it.
The U.S. government employs various policy tools to
support human rights in China, and has increasingly
Further Reading: CRS Report R46750, Human Rights in
imposed relevant visa, economic, and trade-related
China and U.S. Policy: Issues for the 117th Congress; CRS In
sanctions and restrictions, particularly in response to reports
Focus IF10281, China Primer: Uyghurs; CRS Report R43781, The
of mass detentions and forced labor of ethnic Uyghur and
Tibetan Policy Act of 2002: Background and Implementation; and
other Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
CRS In Focus IF10803, Global Human Rights: International
(XUAR). Recent legislation includes the Uyghur Forced
Religious Freedom Policy. For information on Hong Kong, see
Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA; P.L. 117-78), which
CRS In Focus IF12070, China Primer: Hong Kong.
restricts XUAR-related imports. The United States and
According to the Department of State, “[PRC] law grants
some other countries have condemned China’s policies and
public security officers broad administrative detention
actions in Xinjiang, stating that they constitute crimes
powers and the ability to detain individuals for extended
against humanity and genocide.
periods without formal arrest or criminal charges” and
Anti-Government Protests
police target religious leaders, rights lawyers and activists,
independent journalists, and former political prisoners and
Sporadic protests related to Xi Jinping’s stringent
their family members for arbitrary detention or arrest. The
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) policies emerged in
nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation compiled a list of over 7,600
the Spring of 2022. For several days beginning on
cases of political and religious prisoners in China in 2022.
November 26, 2022, Chinese university students and others
PRC leaders long have asserted that human rights standards
participated in demonstrations in Shanghai, Beijing, and
vary by country, that economic development is a key
over a dozen other cities in China. The gatherings
human right, and that a country’s human rights policies are
apparently were triggered by a deadly apartment fire in
an “internal affair.”
Urumqi, Xinjiang that demonstrators blamed on “zero-
Religious and Ethnic Minority Policies
COVID” measures, including the blocking of entrances and
exits of residential buildings. Many participants demanded
In 2016, Xi Jinping launched a policy known as
the government loosen COVID-19 controls, while some
“Sinicization,” by which China’s religious and ethnic
articulated broader political demands around issues such as
minorities are required to “assimilate” or conform to
free expression and democracy.
majority Han Chinese culture as defined by the CPC and
adhere to “core socialist values.” The PRC government has
The demonstrations were highly unusual in China for being
implemented policies in Tibetan areas, Xinjiang, and Inner
national in character and scope, directly challenging the
Mongolia requiring that nearly all primary school courses
CPC and top leaders, and galvanizing a relatively broad
be taught in Mandarin rather than in minority languages.
swath of society. Some observers compared them to the
Since 2018, new regulations require religious organizations
1989 democracy movement, which ended in a violent
to obtain government permission for nearly every aspect of
military crackdown. The government detained some
their operations, submit to greater state supervision, and
protesters, deployed police patrols, checked people’s
register all clergy in a national database. The government
phones for politically-related content and unapproved apps,
has continued to pressure unofficial Christian congregations
and censored social media except for commentary critical
to register with the state and to persecute practitioners of
of the demonstrations. The CPC vowed to “resolutely crack
the Falun Gong spiritual exercise. The State Department
down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile
has consistently designated China as a “Country of
forces,” while various cities began to loosen COVID-19
Particular Concern” for “particularly severe violations of
control measures.
religious freedom” under the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-292).
https://crsreports.congress.gov
China Primer: Human Rights
Authorities have weakened the role of monasteries in
Selected U.S. Policy Tools
Tibetan society, resettled Tibetan nomads and farmers in
Democracy and Human Rights Programs: Since
towns, and employed many in factories, according to the
2001, congressional appropriations have funded efforts
State Department and other sources. The CPC insists that
to promote human rights, democracy, the rule of law,
PRC laws, and not Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions,
civil society, and internet freedom in China, as well as
govern the process by which lineages of Tibetan lamas are
programs to promote sustainable development,
reincarnated, and that the state has the right to choose the
environmental conservation, and preservation of
successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 87-year-old
indigenous culture in Tibetan areas. These include
14th Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.
programs administered by relevant agencies as well as
Uyghurs
by the National Endowment for Democracy, a
nongovernmental foundation funded primarily by
Between 2017 and 2019, XUAR authorities arbitrarily
congressional appropriations.
detained over 1 million ethnic Uyghur and other Muslims in
reeducation centers. Detainees generally were not accused
International Media: U.S. government-funded Voice
of crimes, but rather were held on the basis of past
of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) provide
religious, cultural, scholarly, social, and online activities, as
well as travel, that the government later deemed “extremist”
external sources of independent or alternative news and
opinion to audiences in China. Both media outlets
or potentially terrorist. Detainees have been compelled to
broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan, and
renounce many of their Islamic beliefs and customs as a
RFA provides a Uyghur language service.
condition for their release. Treatment in the centers
reportedly has included food deprivation, psychological
Targeted Legislation: Congress has enacted numerous
pressure, sexual abuse, medical neglect, torture, and forced
laws to respond to human rights developments and
labor. Since 2019, the XUAR government appears to have
related issues in Tibet and Xinjiang specifically. U.S.
released some detainees, prosecuted some as criminals, and
policy toward Tibet is largely guided by the Tibetan
sent others to factory labor. In 2022, the XUAR
Policy Act of 2002 (Foreign Relations Authorization
government reported it had prosecuted 540,826 people;
Act, FY2003, P.L. 107-228). Recent Tibet-related
many are presumed to have been convicted and sentenced
legislation includes the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act
on political charges. Tens of thousands of Uyghurs have
of 2018 (P.L. 115-330) and the Tibetan Policy and
been coercively employed as agricultural or factory labor in
Support Act of 2020 (Division FF, Title III, Subtitle E
Xinjiang and elsewhere in China.
of P.L. 116-260). Recent Xinjiang-focused legislation
includes the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020
In August 2022, the United Nations Office of the High
(P.L. 116-145) and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Commissioner for Human Rights determined that China’s
Act (UFLPA, P.L. 117-78).
counterterrorism and counter-“extremism” strategies have
led to “interlocking patterns of severe and undue
restrictions on a wide range of human rights”
Targeted Sanctions: The Global Magnitsky Human
and may
Rights Accountability Act (Title XII, Subtitle F of P.L.
constitute crimes against humanity. It called on China to
“release all individuals
114-328), as implemented under Executive Order
arbitrarily deprived of their liberty”
and “urgently repeal” all discriminat
13818, authorizes the President to impose economic
ory laws and policies
sanctions and visa denials or revocations against foreign
against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR.
individuals responsible for human rights abuses or
Congressional Considerations
corruption. Other authorities also provide for visa
sanctions, including against the immediate family
The PRC appears to have generally resisted outside
members of human rights violators.
pressure to change policies that many observers say violate
human rights. At the same time, some policy experts argue
Export Restrictions: The United States may impose
that forceful responses, including targeted sanctions, can
restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain U.S. goods
moderate PRC behavior. Members may conduct oversight
and services to PRC entities on the basis of national
of implementation of the UFLPA and other relevant laws,
security or foreign policy interests, including human
assess the impact of these and other policy tools, and
rights, under the Export Administration Regulations.
evaluate the implications of any additional actions.
Considerations may include whether/how to bolster
Forced Labor Import Restrictions: Section 307 of
punitive measures against the PRC government; coordinate
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1307) forbids the
greater international pressure on China to abide by
importation of “goods, wares, articles, and
international human rights standards; promote greater
merchandise” into the United States that were produced
access to Tibet and Xinjiang; or strengthen support for civil
with forced labor. UFLPA in part creates a rebuttable
society and censorship circumvention efforts. In light of
presumption that Xinjiang-related imports are made
events of November 2022, U.S. government officials may
with forced labor.
consider ways to support the rights of people in China to
demonstrate peacefully, while being cognizant that PRC
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
authorities have often sought to delegitimize expressions of
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
discontent as being the product of foreign meddling.
IF12265
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China Primer: Human Rights
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