Joint NGO Letter to the President of the European Council ahead of 18th EU-China Summit

The summit will be hosted by Premier Li, who will represent the People’s Republic of China. The European Union will be represented by Donald Tusk, President of the Council of the European Union, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen and Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström will also participate.

Joint NGO Letter to the President of the European Council Mr. Donal Tusk ahead of the 18th EU-China Summit

Mr. Donald Tusk
President of the European Council

Brussels, 6 July 2016

In addition to these security-related laws, the new Foreign NGO Management Law (FNGO Law, effective 1 January 2017) treats foreign NGOs, like domestic independent civil society groups, as potential security threats to the regime. By placing the implementation and supervision of the new law under the mandate of the public security authorities and granting the latter extensive investigation and enforcement powers, the FNGO Law places foreign civil society groups, including those doing important work of advancing human rights and holding government policies to account, at risk of being arbitrarily targeted by security forces and without assurances for due process. Under this law public security officials will be granted the authority to arbitrarily summon representatives of overseas groups, cancel activities deemed a “threat to national security”, and restrict access to funding from abroad, adding more extreme controls and monitoring to an already restrictive civil society space in China³.

The EU has raised concerns about the concrete outcomes and human rights implications of these new sweeping laws on several occasions, for example by the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis on his second official visit to China in November 20154, in the European Parliament’s resolution on EU-China relations of 16 December 2015⁵, and most recently in the Human Rights Council on 22 June 2016⁶ and the Joint communication of the HRVP and Commission with “Elements for a new EU strategy on China”⁷. It is important that on the occasion of the upcoming EU- China summit, the EU echoes these concerns and presents a coherent and unified position on the need to repeal or amend laws that restrict basic freedoms or that do not meet international human rights standards.

It is imperative that the EU engages the Chinese authorities at the highest level on the universality and indivisibility of human rights, and urges China to respect the free flow of information, ensure the independence of the judiciary, and respect all forms of peaceful expression, assembly and association. In line with the EU’s commitment to place human rights at the centre of its relations with all third countries, including its strategic partners, our organisations urge you to call on the Chinese authorities to:

• stop the repression and persecution of human rights defenders, and in particular to immediately and unconditionally release the remaining lawyers and activists who have been arrested in relation to the 9 July 2015 crackdown. In this context, the EU should raise individual emblematic cases including those of Su Changlan, Gao Yu, Xie Wenfei, Wang Mo, Zeng Feiyang, Meng Han, Tang Zhishun, Xing Qingxian, Wang Yu, Bao Longjun, Jiang Yefei, Dong Guangping, Ilham Tohti, Druklo, Dolma Tso, Tashi Wangchuk, Choephel Dawa, Liu Ping, Liu Xiaobo/Liu Xia, Yan Tongyan, Guo Feixiong and Abdukiram Abduveli;
• either withdraw the recently adopted National Security Law, Counterterrorism Law, FNGO Law and draft Cyber Security Law, or at a minimum review and extend the implementation date to allow time to substantially revise the laws, and ensure that the implementing regulations and guidance for these laws are in compliance with international human rights standards;
• stop the criminal prosecution and persecution of individuals and groups, including Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongolians and other ethnic minorities, for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, religion and belief;
• strictly follow the non-refoulement principle and stop forcibly transferring, either directly or indirectly, any individuals to any country or jurisdiction where they are at real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, death or other serious human rights violations or abuses and stop pressuring other countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia, to forcibly return individuals to China in violation of international law.

We thank you for your attention and engagement on the human rights concerns raised above, and stand ready to provide any further information you may require.

Yours sincerely,

Gaelle Dusepulchre
Permanent representative to the EU
FIDH

Vincent Metten
EU Policy Director
ICT

Sharon Hom
Executive Director
HRIC

Iverna McGowan
EU Advocacy Director & Head of European Institutions Office
Amnesty International

Cc:
Mr.  Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission
Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative on Foreign Policy and Vice President of the Commission (HR/VP)
Mr. Igor Driesmans, Member of Cabinet, HR/VP
Ms. Alina Butuliga, Member of Cabinet of the President of the European Council
Mr. Ellis Mathews, Head of China Division, European External Action Service (EEAS)
Ms. Joelle Hivonnet, Senior Policy Officer, China, EEAS
Ms. Friederike Tschampa, Policy Officer, Human Rights and Multilateral Diplomacy, EEAS
Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Ms. Caroline Stein, Political advisor to the EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Mr. Jo Leinen, Member of European Parliament, Chair of Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China
Council Working Groups on Asia (COASI) and Human Rights (COHOM)