Xi aims iron fist at human rights lawyers

More than 100 human-rights lawyers and activists have been detained by police this month.

These detainees are largely lawyers working to support socially disadvantaged Chinese, including people complaining they have been falsely accused of wrongdoing by the authorities, and migrant workers facing discriminatory treatment in big cities. China’s state media have labelled these lawyers as “groups disrupting public order,” accusing their leaders of instigating public protests.

The Xi administration seems worried that the lawyers’ activities are linked with increasing discontent over widening disparities in Chinese society. However, the arbitrary clampdown on those working to defend citizens’ human rights cannot be overlooked.

Authorities’ latest move has echoes of the backlash against calls for democracy in 2011, when human rights lawyers were also detained amid what pro-democracy activists termed a “Chinese Jasmine Revolution”.

But the scale of the crackdown in recent months is greater than that of 2011. It demonstrates that the Xi administration is greatly alarmed that the slowdown in the country’s economic growth will result in a rise in social unrest.

Since its inauguration, the Xi administration has increased constraints on human rights lawyers and controls on free speech, apparently concerned that democracy, human rights and other universal values may permeate Chinese society. Xi’s clampdown is reckoned to be more severe than that under his predecessor, Hu Jintao.

In April, noted journalist Gao Yu was handed a prison sentence on charges of illegally providing state secrets to foreigners.

There is no judicial independence in China, a country despotically ruled by its Communist Party, whose claims that it governs by the rule of law are empty. China’s rule of law is a means of ensuring that the party reigns absolute over the country.

This month, the Xi administration enforced a sweeping national security law aimed at blocking political rallies and achieving other similar objectives. It is also working to create legislation to keep watch on foreign non-governmental organisations at home.

We believe that if it seeks to transform China into a responsible major international power, the Xi administration must release the detained lawyers and other imprisoned rights defenders and permit their activities. Continuing to run the country with an iron fist will only emphasise China’s essential difference from other great powers in the international community.

We support Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in his call for  China “to guarantee all Chinese [the freedom to act on] universal values, including the [detained] lawyers and human-rights activists.” The United States has also expressed concern about the situation. The matter should be addressed by Washington during Xi’s visit to the United States in September.

It is important that Japan, the United States and other nations that share values of human rights, maintain their diplomatic pressure on China to recognise the importance of respecting universal values.