The words are scathing. "The Chinese government is carrying out an intense offensive against the international system for the protection of human rights", "the most intense that we have seen since the emergence of this system in the middle of the 20th century," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, in the NGO's 2020 annual report published on Tuesday, January 14.
"If not challenged, Beijing's actions herald a dystopian future in which no one will be beyond the reach of Chinese censors, and where the international human rights system will be so weakened that it will not serve more to control government repression, "writes Kenneth Roth in this report.
According to him, the Communist Party has built in China "a high-tech Orwellian police state and a sophisticated system of Internet censorship to monitor and suppress public criticism", which denounces in particular "the nightmarish system" of repression established against Muslims from Xinjiang.
The great powers "are missing"
"To silence critics, the Chinese government is trying with increasing ferocity to use its economic and diplomatic power to silence critical voices abroad and undermine international institutions that protect human rights," said added Kenneth Roth Tuesday at a press conference at the United Nations.
Opposite, he said, several great powers "are missing." "(US President Donald) Trump has lost his credibility because he too often kisses autocratic friends instead of defending the human rights they flout."
"The European Union has been distracted by Brexit, hindered by its nationalist members, divided by migration and has therefore often found it difficult to speak with a common and strong voice on human rights." HRW particularly criticizes French President Emmanuel Macron for "not having mentioned human rights publicly" during his visit to China in November. "Other governments have simply been bought by China," said the director general of HRW.
Access to Hong Kong denied
A Chinese diplomat, Xing Jisheng, spoke to the media after the press conference, rejecting a report he said was completely biased and fabricated.
China announced sanctions against HRW and other US NGOs last month in response to a vote in Washington supporting legislation for Hong Kong protesters. Beijing accuses NGOs of encouraging violent crimes linked to the anti-government protests that have rocked Hong Kong since last June.
Kenneth Roth tried to report to Hong Kong, but was denied access to Chinese territory. "The Chinese government is terrified to admit that there is an authentic desire for democracy in a territory it governs, because if they admit that it is a spontaneous desire rather than an imposed idea from abroad, so what's going on in Hong Kong could spread "to all of China, according to Kenneth Roth.
"Hong Kong is part of China and given what you just said here, I think the reasons you didn't have access are clear to everyone," Xing Jisheng told him in New York.
With Reuters and AFP
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