Updated September 20, 2023
China Primer: Human Rights
Overview
of the most extensive internet censorship systems in the
The U.S. Department of State describes the People’s
world, which includes blocking major foreign news and
Republic of China (PRC, or China) as an “authoritarian
social media sites, censoring domestic social media
state in which the Communist Party of China [CPC] is the
platforms, and banning foreign messaging apps.
paramount authority.” Some analysts argue China has been
moving in a totalitarian direction, as it is characterized by a
Further Reading: CRS In Focus IF10281, China Primer:
leadership that is dominated by one person, CPC General
Uyghurs; CRS Report R43781, The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002:
Secretary Xi Jinping, increasing enforcement of ideological
Background and Implementation; and CRS In Focus IF10803,
conformity, and greater party-state control over society
Global Human Rights: International Religious Freedom Policy. For
enhanced by the use of digital technologies. In October
information on Hong Kong, see CRS In Focus IF12070, China
2022, the 20th Central Committee of the CPC selected Xi to
Primer: Hong Kong.
serve a norm-breaking, third, five-year term.
According to the Department of State, “[PRC] law grants
public security officers broad administrative detention
The U.S. government employs various policy tools to
powers and the ability to detain individuals for extended
support human rights in China, and has increasingly
periods without formal arrest or criminal charges,” and
imposed relevant visa, economic, and trade-related
police target religious leaders and adherents, rights lawyers
sanctions and restrictions, particularly in response to reports
and activists, independent journalists, and former political
of mass detentions and forced labor of ethnic Uyghur and
prisoners and their family members for arbitrary detention
other Muslim minority residents in the Xinjiang Uyghur
or arrest. The nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation has compiled a
Autonomous Region (XUAR). Notable legislation includes
list of over 7,500 cases of political and religious prisoners
the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA; P.L.
in China. PRC leaders long have asserted that human rights
117-78), which restricts XUAR-related imports. The United
standards vary by country, that economic development is a
States and some other governments have condemned
key human right, and that a country’s human rights policies
China’s policies and actions in Xinjiang, stating that they
are an “internal affair.”
constitute crimes against humanity and genocide.
Religious and Ethnic Minority Policies
2022 Anti-Government Protests
In 2016, Xi Jinping launched a policy known as
For several days in November 2022, Chinese university
“Sinicization,” by which the CPC requires religious and
students and others participated in demonstrations in
ethnic minorities to “assimilate” or conform to majority
Shanghai, Beijing, and over a dozen other cities in China.
Han Chinese culture as defined by the CPC and adhere to
The gatherings apparently were triggered by a deadly
“core socialist values.” The PRC government has
apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang that demonstrators
implemented policies in Tibetan areas, Xinjiang, and Inner
blamed on “zero-COVID” measures, including the blocking
Mongolia mandating that nearly all primary school courses
of entrances and exits of residential buildings. Many
be taught in Mandarin rather than in minority languages.
participants demanded the government loosen COVID-19
Since 2018, new regulations require religious organizations
controls. Some articulated broader political demands
to obtain government permission for nearly every aspect of
around issues such as free expression and democracy. The
their operations, submit to greater state supervision, and
CPC vowed to “resolutely crack down on infiltration and
register all clergy in a national database. The government
sabotage activities by hostile forces.” The party-state
enacted regulations in 2022 that restrict internet use by
suppressed the expanding protest movement by deploying
religious groups and online worship among unregistered
police patrols in major cities, detaining and interrogating
churches. The government has continued to arrest and to
some participants (possibly with the aid of cell phone
persecute practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual exercise.
location data and facial recognition cameras), spot-checking
The State Department has consistently designated China as
people’s phones for politically-related content and
a “Country of Particular Concern” for “particularly severe
unapproved apps, and censoring social media. The
violations of religious freedom” under the International
government abandoned strict COVID-19 policies less than
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-292).
two weeks after the protests began.
Since 2018, the PRC government has required Tibetan
Selected Human Rights Issues
monks and nuns to undergo education in CPC ideology and
Under Xi’s leadership, China has further restricted and
to demonstrate “political reliability.” PRC authorities have
suppressed civil society, religious groups, human rights
intensified inspections of Tibetans’ mobile phones and
defenders, speech, the press, and academic discourse. The
homes for pictures of the Dalai Lama, which are forbidden.
party-state has closed much of the space that had previously
Some reports suggest that a growing percentage of Tibetan
existed for limited social activism. The PRC oversees one
political detainees are ordinary religious believers rather
than leaders. The government has resettled many Tibetan
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China Primer: Human Rights
nomads and farmers in towns, and employed many in
• Targeted Legislation: Congress has enacted numerous
factories, according to the State Department and other
laws to respond to human rights developments and
sources. An estimated 450,000 Tibetan children have been
related issues in Tibet and Xinjiang specifically. U.S.
placed in government-run boarding schools which teach
policy toward Tibet is largely guided by the Tibetan
classes in Mandarin and not Tibetan. The CPC insists that
Policy Act of 2002 (Foreign Relations Authorization
PRC laws, and not Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions,
Act, FY2003, P.L. 107-228). Recent Tibet-related
govern the process by which lineages of Tibetan lamas are
legislation includes the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act
reincarnated, and that the state has the right to choose the
of 2018 (P.L. 115-330) and the Tibetan Policy and
successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 88-year-old
Support Act of 2020 (Division FF, Title III, Subtitle E
14th Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.
of P.L. 116-260). Recent Xinjiang-focused legislation
includes the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020
Uyghurs
(P.L. 116-145) and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Between 2017 and 2019, XUAR authorities arbitrarily
Act (UFLPA, P.L. 117-78). Numerous bills introduced
detained over 1 million ethnic Uyghur and other Muslims in
in the 118th Congress would address issues related to
reeducation centers. Detainees generally were not accused
human rights in China.
of crimes, but rather were held on the basis of past
• Targeted Sanctions: The Global Magnitsky Human
religious, cultural, scholarly, social, and online activities, as
well as travel, that the government later deemed “extremist”
Rights Accountability Act (Title XII, Subtitle F of P.L.
114-328), as implemented under Executive Order
or potentially terrorist. Detainees were compelled to
13818, authorizes the President to impose economic
renounce many of their Islamic beliefs and customs as a
sanctions and visa denials or revocations against foreign
condition for their release. Treatment in the centers
persons responsible for human rights abuses or
reportedly included food deprivation, psychological
corruption. Other authorities also provide for visa
pressure, sexual abuse, medical neglect, torture, and forced
sanctions, including against the immediate family
labor. Since 2019, the XUAR government appears to have
members of human rights violators. Such global
released some detainees, prosecuted many as criminals, and
authorities can be used to sanction PRC individuals or
sent others to factory labor. Some reeducation centers
entities.
appear to have been converted to high-security prisons and
new prisons have been built. Tens of thousands of Uyghurs
• Export Restrictions: The United States may impose
have been coercively employed as agricultural or factory
restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain U.S. goods
labor in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China. The whereabouts
and services to PRC entities on the basis of national
of hundreds of prominent Uyghur intellectuals and cultural
security or foreign policy interests, including the
figures remains unknown.
protection of human rights, pursuant to the Export
Control Reform Act (Title XVII, Subtitle B of P.L. 115-
In August 2022, the United Nations Office of the High
232).
Commissioner for Human Rights determined that China’s
• Forced Labor Import Restrictions: Section 307 of
counterterrorism and counter-“extremism” strategies have
the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1307) forbids the
led to “interlocking patterns of severe and undue
restrictions on a wide range of human rights”
importation of “goods, wares, articles, and
and may
merchandise” into the United States that were produced
constitute crimes against humanity. It called on China to
“release all individuals
with forced labor. UFLPA in part creates a rebuttable
arbitrarily deprived of their liberty”
and “urgently repeal” all discrimi
presumption that Xinjiang-related imports are made
natory laws and policies
with forced labor.
against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR.
Congressional Considerations
Selected U.S. Policy Tools
The PRC appears to have generally resisted outside
•
pressure to change policies that many observers say violate
Democracy and Human Rights Programs: Since
human rights. At the same time, some policy experts argue
2001, congressional appropriations have funded efforts
that forceful responses, including targeted sanctions, can
to promote human rights, democracy, the rule of law,
moderate PRC behavior. Members may conduct oversight
civil society, and internet freedom in China, as well as
of implementation of the UFLPA and other relevant laws,
programs to promote sustainable development,
assess the impact of these and other policy tools, and
environmental conservation, and preservation of
evaluate the implications of any additional actions. Policy
indigenous culture in Tibetan areas. These include
considerations may include whether/how to bolster punitive
programs administered by relevant agencies as well as
measures against the PRC government; coordinate greater
by the National Endowment for Democracy, a
international pressure on China to abide by international
nongovernmental foundation funded primarily by
human rights standards; gain greater access to Tibet and
congressional appropriations.
Xinjiang; help Uyghurs outside the PRC determine the
• International Media: U.S. government-funded Voice
status of missing relatives in China; and strengthen support
of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) provide
for civil society and censorship circumvention efforts.
external sources of independent or alternative news and
opinion to audiences in China. Both media outlets
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan, and
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
RFA provides a Uyghur language service.
IF12265
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China Primer: Human Rights


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