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{{About|the People's Republic of China|the Republic of China|Human rights in Taiwan|the non-governmental organization|Human Rights in China (organization)}}
{{Multiple issues|{{Update|date=December 2019}}{{More citations needed|date=August 2021}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=January 2021}}
{{Politics of China|expanded=Law}}
'''Human rights in China''' are periodically reviewed by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review.<ref>{{cite web |title=China |website=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/china |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> The [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP), the [[government of China|government of the People's Republic of China]] (PRC), their supporters, and other proponents claim that existing policies and enforcement measures are sufficient to guard against [[human rights abuses]]. However, other countries (such as the United States and Canada), international [[non-governmental organization]]s (NGOs) including [[Human Rights in China (organization)|Human Rights in China]] and [[Amnesty International]], and citizens, lawyers, and [[dissident]]s inside the country, state that the authorities in [[mainland China]] regularly sanction or organize such abuses.

Independent NGOs such as Amnesty International and [[Human Rights Watch]], as well as foreign governmental institutions such as the U.S. State Department, regularly present evidence of the PRC violating the freedoms of [[freedom of speech|speech]], [[freedom of movement|movement]], and [[freedom of religion|religion]] of its citizens and of others within its [[jurisdiction]]. Authorities in the PRC claim improvement in human rights, as they define them differently, so as to be dependent on "[[cultural relativism|national culture]]" and the [[developing country|level of development]] of the country.<ref name="xinhuanet human rights">{{cite news
|title=Human rights can be manifested differently
|work=China Daily
|date=12 December 2005
|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-12/12/content_3908887.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209093707/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-12/12/content_3908887.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=9 December 2007
}}</ref><ref name="McGregor">{{cite book |title=CPC Futures: The New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics |chapter=The CPC as a Global Force: A Long-Term View |author=Richard McGregor |date=2022 |publisher=[[National University of Singapore Press]] |editor1=Frank N. Pieke |editor2=Bert Hofman |isbn=978-981-18-5206-0 |location=Singapore |page=177 |oclc=1354535847 |quote=The Western concept focuses on political values and rights. China, in line with its own domestic politics, insists that this is too narrow and that human rights norms should be focused on economic outcomes, material well-being, and the inviolability of national sovereignty.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Progress in China's Human Rights Cause in 1996
|date=March 1997
|url=http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/prhumanrights1996/index.htm
}}</ref> However, governments have a duty to promote and protect all human rights universally, regardless of their national circumstances.<ref>{{cite web |date=25 June 1993 |title=Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action |website=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |at=paragraph I.5 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/vienna-declaration-and-programme-action |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> PRC politicians have repeatedly maintained that, according to the [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|PRC Constitution]], the "[[Four Cardinal Principles]]" supersede [[Citizenship Rights|citizenship rights]]. PRC officials interpret the primacy of the Four Cardinal Principles as a legal basis for the arrest of people who the government says seek to overthrow the principles. Chinese nationals whom authorities perceive to be in compliance with these principles, on the other hand, are permitted by the PRC authorities to enjoy and exercise all the rights that come with citizenship of the PRC, provided they do not violate PRC laws in any other manner.

Numerous [[China human rights organizations|human rights groups]] have publicized human rights issues in mainland China that they consider the government to be mishandling, including: the death penalty ([[capital punishment]]), the [[one-child policy]] (in which China had made exceptions for [[ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities]] prior to abolishing it in 2015), the political and legal status of [[Tibet]], and neglect of [[freedom of the press]] in mainland China. Other areas of concern include the lack of legal recognition of human rights and the lack of [[judicial independence|an independent judiciary]], [[rule of law]], and [[due process]]. Further issues raised in regard to human rights include the severe lack of [[workers' rights]] (in particular the [[hukou system|''hukou'' system]] which restricts [[migrant worker|migrant labourers]]' freedom of movement), the absence of labour unions independent of the CCP,<ref>{{cite web |date=21 April 2017 |title=Trade Union Law and Collective Bargaining in China |website=China Business Review |language=en-US |url=https://www.chinabusinessreview.com/trade-union-law-and-collective-bargaining-in-china/ |access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:中华全国总工会网站 |website=acftu.org |language=zh |url=http://www.acftu.org |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618070010/http://www.acftu.org/ |archive-date=18 June 2019}}</ref> the implementation of [[Social Credit System]] and its [[defaulted executee|blacklist]], which serve to restrict a person and their family members' rights,<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Credit System in China: Why it is so scary. |date=Nov 10, 2022 |url=https://tutanota.com/blog/posts/social-credit-system}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Social Credit System: Not Just Another Chinese Idiosyncrasy |date=May 1, 2020 |url=https://jpia.princeton.edu/news/social-credit-system-not-just-another-chinese-idiosyncrasy}}</ref> and allegations of discrimination against rural workers and [[ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities]], as well as the lack of religious freedom{{spaced en dash}} rights groups have highlighted repression of the [[Christianity in China|Christian]],<ref>{{cite web
|title=Christians face waves of persecution
|date=24 November 2001
|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/Christians+face+waves+persecution/5935732/story.html
|access-date=13 January 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114174440/http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Christians+face+waves+persecution/5935732/story.html
|archive-date=14 January 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|title=Religious freedom: Christians and lions &#124; The Economist
|date=31 December 2012
|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21542195
|access-date=13 January 2017
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Chinese government persecutes dissidents &#124; TheCabin.net – Conway, Arkansas
|url=http://thecabin.net/interact/opinion/columns/2012-01-07/chinese-government-persecutes-dissidents
|access-date=13 January 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227233632/https://www.thecabin.net/interact/opinion/columns/2012-01-07/chinese-government-persecutes-dissidents
|archive-date=27 February 2019
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|title=Asia-Pacific &#124; China's Christians suffer for their faith
|work=BBC News
|last=McGeown
|first=Kate
|date=9 November 2004
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3993857.stm
|access-date=13 January 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=China's Crackdown on Christians Worsens, Christian News
|date=7 February 2008
|url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/china-s-crackdown-on-christians-worsens-31104/
|access-date=13 January 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|last=Department of State. The Office of Electronic Information
|first=Bureau of Public Affairs
|title=China includes Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau
|date=19 September 2008
|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108404.htm
|access-date=13 January 2012
}}</ref> [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]], [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] [[Islam in China|Muslim]], and [[Falun Gong]] religious groups. Some Chinese activist groups are trying to expand these freedoms, including Human Rights in China, [[Chinese Human Rights Defenders]], and the [[China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group]]. [[Weiquan movement|Chinese human rights attorneys]] who take on cases related to these issues, however, often face harassment, disbarment, and arrest.<ref name="HRW Thin Ice">[[Human Rights Watch]]. [https://www.hrw.org/en/node/62248/section/6 Walking on Thin Ice] 28 April 2008.</ref><ref name="amnesty13">Amnesty International, [https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/022/2010/en "China: No Rule of Law when Defence Lawyers Cannot Perform their Legitimate Role"], 5 October 2010</ref>

According to the Amnesty International report from 2016/2017 the government continued to draft and enact a series of new [[national security]] laws that presented serious threats to the protection of human rights. The nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists continued throughout the year. Activists and human rights defenders continued to be systematically subjected to monitoring, [[harassment]], intimidation, arrest, and [[detention (imprisonment)|detention]].<ref name="amnesty.org">{{cite web |title=Human rights in China |website=Amnesty International |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china/report-china/}}</ref> The report continues that [[police]] detained increasing numbers of human rights defenders outside of formal detention facilities, sometimes without access to a [[lawyer]] for long periods, exposing the detainees to the risk of [[torture]] and other ill-treatment. Booksellers, [[publishing|publishers]], activists, and a [[journalist]] who went missing in neighboring countries in 2015 and 2016 turned up at detention in China, causing concerns about China's law enforcement agencies acting [[extrajudicial punishment|outside their jurisdiction]].<ref name="amnesty.org"/>

In a human rights report that assesses social, economic, and political freedoms, China has received the lowest ranking globally for safety from state actions and the right to assemble.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hawkins |first1=Amy |last2=correspondent |first2=Amy Hawkins senior China |date=2023-06-21 |title=China is state most dangerous to its own citizens' civil rights, report finds |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/21/china-is-state-most-dangerous-to-its-own-citizens-civil-rights-report-finds |access-date=2023-09-26}}</ref>

==Legal system==
{{See also|List of countries by incarceration rate#China}}
Since the [[legal history of China#1978-1981|legal reforms]] of the late 1970s and 1980s, the CCP has officially moved attempted to embrace the language of the [[rule of law]] and it has also attempted to establish a modern [[court system of the People's Republic of China|court system]]. During this process, it has enacted thousands of new laws and regulations, and it has begun to train more [[legal profession]]als.<ref name="HRW Thin Ice"/> The concept of 'rule of law' has been emphasized in the [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|constitution]], and the ruling party has embarked on campaigns to promote the idea that citizens have protection under the law. At the same time, however, a fundamental contradiction exists in the constitution itself, in which the Communist Party insists that its authority supersedes that of the law.<ref name="fordham">Eva Pils, [http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2065&context=ilj&sei-redir=1#search=%22gao%20zhisheng%20hunger%20strike%22 'Asking the Tiger for His Skin: Rights Activism in China'], Fordham International Law Journal, Volume 30, Issue 4 (2006).</ref> Thus, the constitution enshrines the rule of law, yet simultaneously stresses the principle that the "[[generations of Chinese leadership|leadership]] of the Communist Party" holds primacy over the law. Even some Chinese themselves have only a vague conception of the priority of the CCP leadership over constitutional and legal authority.

The judiciary is not [[judicial independence|independent]] of the Communist Party, and judges face political pressure; in many instances, private party committees dictate the outcome of cases.<ref>{{cite web
|last=Yardley
|first=Jim
|title=A young judge tests China's legal system
|date=28 November 2005
|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/28/news/judge.php
|access-date=23 August 2006}}</ref> In this way, the CCP effectively controls the judiciary through its influence.<ref name="HRW Thin Ice"/> This influence has produced a system often described as "rule ''by'' law" (alluding to the CCP's power), rather than rule ''of'' law.<ref name="nytimes">[[The New York Times]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/ref/world/asia/rule_index.html Rule by Law: A Series] 2005.</ref> Moreover, the legal system lacks protections for [[civil law (Common law)|civil rights]], and often fails to uphold due process.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Belkin |first=Ira |title=China's Criminal Justice System: A Work in Progress |journal=[[Washington Journal of Modern China]] |date=Fall 2000 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Chinas_Criminal_Justice_System.pdf |access-date=6 March 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019034145/http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/chinas_criminal_justice_system.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2011}}</ref> This is opposed to a system of [[checks and balances]] or [[separation of powers]].

Foreign experts estimate that in 2000, there were between 1.5&nbsp;million and 4 million people in prison in mainland China. The PRC does not allow outsiders to inspect its penal system.<ref name="Becker">{{cite book |title=The Chinese |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514940-1 |pages=335–336 |author=Jasper Becker |author-link=Jasper Becker}}</ref>

==Civil liberties==

===Freedom of speech===
[[File:Protest in Hong Kong against the detention of Liuxiaobo 11Feb.jpg|thumb|Political protest in Hong Kong against the detention of Chinese [[2010 Nobel Peace Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate [[Liu Xiaobo]].]]
{{Main|Censorship in China|Mass media in China|Internet censorship in China}}
Although the 1982 constitution guarantees freedom of speech,<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of the People's Republic of China |url=http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> the Chinese government often uses the "[[inciting subversion of state power|subversion of state power]]" and "protection of [[classified information|state secret]]s" clauses in their law system to imprison those who criticize the government.<ref>{{cite news |title=China jails rights activist outspoken on Tibet |work=Reuters |date=3 April 2008 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSPEK10194620080403}}</ref> Another crime used to jail critics such as [[Sun Dawu]] is "[[picking quarrels and provoking trouble]]".

During the [[2008 Summer Olympics]], the government promised to issue permits authorizing people to protest in specifically designated "protest parks" in Beijing.<ref>{{cite news |title=China 'to allow Olympic protests' |date=23 July 2008 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7521321.stm |access-date=22 August 2008}}</ref> However, a majority of the applications were withdrawn, suspended, or vetoed,<ref>{{cite news |title=China 'yet to approve protests' |last=Bristow |first=Michael |date=18 August 2008 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7567703.stm |access-date=22 August 2008}}</ref> and the police detained some of the people who applied.<ref name="IHT">{{cite news |title=Too Old and Frail to Re-educate? Not in China |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |work=The New York Times |date=20 August 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/sports/olympics/21protest.html |access-date=9 May 2009}}</ref>

References to certain controversial events and political movements, as well as access to web pages considered by the PRC authorities to be "dangerous" or "threatening to state security", are [[Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China|blocked on the internet in the PRC]]; and content disputed by or critical of PRC authorities is absent from many publications, and subject to the control of the CCP within mainland China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Freedom on the Net Report: China |date=April 2011 |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/China2011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423033632/http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/China2011.pdf |archive-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> Laws in the People's Republic of China forbid the advocacy of [[independence|separation]] of any part of its claimed territory from mainland China, or public challenge to the CCP's domination of the government of China.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} An unsanctioned protest during the Olympics by seven foreign activists at the [[China Nationalities Museum]], protesting for a free Tibet and blocking the entrance, was cleared<ref name="Ang">{{cite news |title=8 Tibet Activists Detained near Olympics Venue |last=Ang |first=Audra |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=13 August 2008 |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13844 |access-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915040919/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13844 |archive-date=15 September 2010}}</ref> and the protesters deported.<ref>{{cite news |title=Olympics protester returns to UK |date=15 August 2008 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7562264.stm |access-date=22 August 2008}}</ref>

Foreign Internet search engines including Microsoft [[Bing (search engine)|Bing]], [[Yahoo!]], and [[Google China]] have come under criticism for aiding these practices. [[criticism of Yahoo!#Work in the People's Republic of China|Yahoo!]], in particular, stated that it will not protect the privacy and confidentiality of its Chinese customers from the authorities.<ref>Gunther, Marc. [https://money.cnn.com/2006/02/15/news/international/pluggedin_fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes "Tech execs get grilled over mainland China business: Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco, facing attack in Congress, say they're doing more good than harm in China"]. ''[[CNN]].'' 16 February 2006.</ref>

In 2005, after Yahoo! China provided its personal emails and [[IP address]]es to the Chinese government, reporter [[Shi Tao (journalist)|Shi Tao]] was sentenced to imprisonment for ten years for releasing an internal Communist Party document to an overseas Chinese democracy site.<ref>{{cite web |title=China: Internet Companies Aid Censorship |date=10 August 2006 |url=https://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/09/china13940.htm |access-date=6 February 2007}}</ref> [[Skype]] president Josh Silverman said it was "common knowledge" that [[TOM Online]] had "established procedures to...block instant messages containing certain words deemed offensive by the Chinese authorities".<ref name="spying">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7649761.stm "China 'spying on Skype messages'"], [[BBC News]]. 3 October.2008.</ref>

[[File:屠夫.jpg|thumb|upright|Chinese [[blogger]] and human rights activist [[Wu Gan]] was sentenced to 8 years in prison in December 2017]]

In June 2020, [[Cai Xia]], a retired professor of CCP's [[Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Party School]], criticized Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CCP, called him a "mafia boss" and the ruling Communist Party a "political zombie". In a 20-minute audio on social networking sites, she said that everyone is Xi's slave, and there is no human rights and rule of law, She suggested that Xi should retire.<ref>{{cite news |author1=安德烈 |title=前中共中央党校教授蔡霞：换人 中国才有希望 |agency=RFI |date=4 June 2020 |url=https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20200603-%E5%89%8D%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B1%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E5%85%9A%E6%A0%A1%E6%95%99%E6%8E%88%E8%94%A1%E9%9C%9E-%E6%8D%A2%E4%BA%BA-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%89%8D%E6%9C%89%E5%B8%8C%E6%9C%9B |access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref> On 17 August 2020, Cai Xia was expelled from the CCP's Central Party School and her retirement pensions were cancelled.<ref>{{cite web |title=The CCP's Central Party School (College of National Administration) severely dealt with the serious violation of discipline by retired teacher Cai Xia |website=CCP's Central Party School (College of National Administration) |url=http://www.ccps.gov.cn/xyyw/202008/t20200817_142799.shtml |access-date=17 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817062503/http://www.ccps.gov.cn/xyyw/202008/t20200817_142799.shtml |archive-date=17 August 2020}}</ref>

====Freedom of speech during the Coronavirus crisis of 2020====
During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China|Coronavirus crisis of 2020]], the PRC is reported to have suppressed the news of the virus and also attempted to downplay and under report deaths. There are reports of detentions, assaults, torture, and disappearances of whistleblowers including activists, doctors, lawyers, students, and businessmen who created and uploaded videos of overburdened hospitals and high numbers of deaths.<ref name="HRW-Covid19">{{cite web |title=China: Free Covid-19 Activists, 'Citizen Journalists' |date=27 April 2020 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/27/china-free-covid-19-activists-citizen-journalists}}</ref><br/>
Some of these whistleblowers were:
* [[Li Wenliang]], a Chinese medical doctor who worked at Wuhan Central Hospital and issued emergency warnings to other hospitals and doctors about the new disease. He was arrested and accused of "making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order".<ref name="LA Times-Li Wenliang">{{cite news |last=Su |first=Alice |date=6 February 2020 |title=A doctor was arrested for warning China about the coronavirus. Then he died of it |newspaper=LA Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-06/coronavirus-china-xi-li-wenliang}}</ref><ref name="BBC-Li Wenliang">{{cite news |date=7 February 2020 |title=Li Wenliang: Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor |newspaper=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51403795}}</ref>
* [[Fang Bin]], a Chinese businessman, citizen journalist and whistleblower who broadcast images of Wuhan during the Coronavirus crisis. He has been missing since 9 February 2020.<ref name="HRW-Covid19"/><ref name="New York Times-Covid19">{{cite news |last=Wang |first=Vivian |date=14 February 2020 |title=They Documented the Coronavirus Crisis in Wuhan. Then They Vanished |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/business/wuhan-coronavirus-journalists.html}}</ref>
* [[Chen Qiushi]], a Chinese lawyer, activist, and citizen journalist who covered the [[2019–20 Hong Kong protests]] and the COVID-19 pandemic and was missing since 6 February 2020<ref name="HRW-Covid19"/> until September 2020 when he was found but "not free."<ref>{{cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=2020-09-24 |title=Wuhan Covid journalist missing since February found, says friend |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/wuhan-covid-journalist-missing-since-february-found-says-friend-chen-qiushi-china |access-date=2023-08-26}}</ref> After 600 days, he re-appeared in a letter at his twitter account.<ref name="Zhai-2021">{{cite news |last=Zhai |first=Keith |date=2021-10-01 |title=Chinese Citizen Journalist Who Documented Covid-19 in Wuhan Resurfaces After 600 Days |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-citizen-journalist-who-documented-covid-19-in-wuhan-resurfaces-after-600-days-11633077956 |access-date=2023-08-26}}</ref> "Over the past year and eight months, I have experienced a lot of things. Some of it can be talked about, some of it can't," Chen's letter read. "I believe you understand."<ref name="Zhai-2021"/>
* [[Li Zehua]], a Chinese citizen journalist, rapper, and YouTuber who was trying to trace missing lawyer and citizen journalist Chen Qiushi. He was missing since 26 February 2020<ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese journalist Li Zehua missing in Wuhan since late February |work=cpj.org |date=15 April 2020 |language=en |url=https://cpj.org/2020/04/chinese-journalist-li-zehua-missing-in-wuhan-since.php |access-date=17 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Coronavirus and China's Missing Citizen Journalists |work=National Review |date=19 March 2020 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/04/06/coronavirus-and-chinas-missing-citizen-journalists/ |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref> until late April 2020 when he posted a YouTube video that he had been forcibly quarantined for almost two months.<ref>{{cite news |date=2020-04-23 |title=Chinese citizen journalist resurfaces after going missing in Wuhan |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-journalist-idUSKCN22515X |access-date=2023-08-26}}</ref>
* Chen Mei and El amogid Wei, activists who were sharing censored articles about the coronavirus outbreak on an online archive, have been noncontactable since 19 April 2020<ref name="Reuters-Covid19">{{cite news |last=Wu |first=Huizhong |date=27 April 2020 |title=China police detain three linked to censored coronavirus archive |newspaper=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-rights/china-police-detain-three-linked-to-censored-coronavirus-archive-idUSKCN2291FP}}</ref>
* [[Li-Meng Yan]], a Hong Kong virologist and whistleblower had to escape to the US, after she found large scale cover ups of the pandemic by Chinese authorities. She said that if she told her story of the coverup in China, she "will be disappeared and killed."<ref name="Fox News-Dr. Li-Meng Yan">{{cite news |last=Chakraborty |first=Barnini |date=10 July 2020 |title=Chinese virologist accuses Beijing of coronavirus cover-up, flees Hong Kong: 'I know how they treat whistleblowers' |newspaper=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-virologist-coronavirus-cover-up-flee-hong-kong-whistleblower}}</ref>
* [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-covid-wuhan-citizen-journalist-zhang-zhan-hunger-strike-prison/ Independent journalist Zhang Zhan] was served a four-year prison sentence for "picking quarrels and provoking troubles", a charge she received after she flew to Wuhan following the COVID-19 outbreak. At the time, she knew she was risking her own safety and arrest, but she wanted to learn more about the COVID-19 situation and share her findings with others.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fear that Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan could be "tortured in prison" for reporting on COVID |work=cbsnews.com |date=5 February 2021 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-covid-wuhan-citizen-journalist-zhang-zhan-hunger-strike-prison/ |access-date=6 October 2021}}</ref>

===Freedom of the press===
{{Main|Freedom of the press in China}}
Critics argue that the CCP has failed to live up to its promises about the [[freedom of the press|freedom of the mainland Chinese media]]. [[Freedom House]] consistently ranks China as "Not Free"<ref>{{cite web |title=Freedom of the Press Report: China |date=May 2011 |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010&country=7801}}</ref><ref>Freedom House, [http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press-2014/press-freedom-rankings#.U_IkG4BdVSk Freedom of the Press 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709110550/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press-2014/press-freedom-rankings#.U_IkG4BdVSk |date=9 July 2019}}, Freedom House.</ref> in its annual press freedom survey, including the 2014 report. PRC journalist [[He Qinglian]] says that the PRC's media are controlled by directives from the Communist Party's propaganda department, and are subjected to intense monitoring which threatens punishment for violators, rather than to pre-publication censorship.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hijacked Potential of China's Internet |url=http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.2.2006/CRF-2006-2_MediaControlChina.pdf |access-date=22 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155631/http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.2.2006/CRF-2006-2_MediaControlChina.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2007}} "The Hijacked Potential of China's Internet", English translation of a chapter in the 2006 revised edition of ''Media Control in China'' published in Chinese by Liming Enterprises of Taiwan in 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2007</ref> In 2008, [[ITV News]] reporter John Ray was arrested while covering a "Free Tibet" protest.<ref name="Ang"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Activists held over Games protest |date=13 August 2008 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7557771.stm |access-date=26 August 2008}}</ref> International media coverage of Tibetan protests only a few months before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 triggered a strong reaction inside China. Chinese media practitioners took the opportunity to argue with propaganda authorities for more media freedom:<ref name="Stockmann 269-289">{{cite journal |last=Stockmann |first=Daniela |title=Who Believes Propaganda? Media Effects during the Anti-Japanese Protests in Beijing |journal=The China Quarterly |date=17 June 2010 |volume=202 |pages=269–289 |doi=10.1017/S0305741010000238 |s2cid=154907890}}</ref> one journalist asked, 'If not even Chinese journalists are allowed to report about the problems in Tibet, how can foreign journalists know about the Chinese perspective about the events?'<ref>{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |title=Protests of the West Spread in China |newspaper=The New York Times |date=21 April 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/asia/21china.html |access-date=3 October 2012}}</ref> Foreign journalists also reported that their access to certain websites, including those of human rights organizations, was restricted.<ref>{{cite news |title=Web curbs for Olympic journalists |date=30 July 2008 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7532338.stm |access-date=26 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Hundreds of websites still censored at Beijing Olympics |date=5 August 2008 |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/08/hundreds-of-web.html |access-date=26 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080814212635/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/08/hundreds-of-web.html |archive-date=14 August 2008}}</ref> [[International Olympic Committee]] president [[Jacques Rogge]] stated at the end of the 2008 Olympic Games that 'The regulations [governing foreign media freedom during the Olympics] might not be perfect but they are a sea-change compared to the situation before. We hope that they will continue.'<ref>{{cite news |title=Rogge urges China to keep foreign media freedoms |date=24 August 2008 |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXmzlCbGH43nO0lzYAWpSHGiqBhg |access-date=26 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305093246/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXmzlCbGH43nO0lzYAWpSHGiqBhg |archive-date=5 March 2009}}</ref> The Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) issued a statement during the Olympics that "despite welcome progress in terms of accessibility and the number of press conferences within the Olympic facilities, the FCCC has been alarmed at the use of violence, intimidation, and harassment outside. The club has confirmed more than 30 cases of reporting interference since the formal opening of the Olympic media center on 25 July, and is checking at least 20 other reported incidents."<ref>{{cite news |title=Games fell short of standards |last=Callick |first=Rowan |date=26 August 2008 |work=The Australian |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24240947-2722,00.html |access-date=26 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915162044/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24240947-2722,00.html |archive-date=15 September 2008}}</ref>

Since the Chinese state continues to exert a considerable amount of control over media, public support for domestic reporting has come as a surprise to many observers.<ref name="Stockmann 269-289"/> Not much is known about the extent to which the Chinese citizenry believe the official statements of the CCP, nor about which media sources they perceive as credible and why. So far, research on the media in China has focused on the changing relationship between media outlets and the state during the reform era.<ref name="Stockmann 269-289"/> Nor is much known about how China's changing media environment has affected the government's ability to persuade media audiences.<ref name="Stockmann 269-289"/> Research on political trust reveals that exposure to the media correlates positively with support for the government in some instances, and negatively in others. The research has been cited as evidence that the Chinese public believes propaganda transmitted to them through the news media, but also that they disbelieve it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=John James |title=Maintaining Popular Support for the Chinese Communist Party: The Influence of Education and the State-Controlled Media |journal=Political Studies |date=1 October 2009 |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=517–536 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00740.x |s2cid=144636358}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Chen |first=Xueyi |author2=Shi, Tianjian |title=Media effects on political confidence and trust in the People's Republic of China in the post-Tiananmen period |journal=East Asia |date=31 August 2001 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=84–118 |doi=10.1007/s12140-001-0011-3 |s2cid=154892012}}</ref> These contradictory results can be explained by realizing that ordinary citizens consider media sources to be credible to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the extent to which media outlets have undergone reform.<ref name="Stockmann 269-289"/>

In 2012 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Chinese government to lift restrictions on media access to the region and allow independent, impartial monitors to visit and assess conditions in Tibet.<ref name="UN News Centre">{{cite web |last=UN News Centre |title=China must urgently address rights violations in Tibet – UN senior official |publisher=United Nations |date=2 November 2012 |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43399&Cr=China&Cr1 |access-date=2 March 2013}}</ref> The Chinese government did not change its position.

In March 2020, China expelled employees of ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The Washington Post]]'', and ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' in response to the U.S. declaring that five state-owned Chinese media outlets were operating as foreign missions of the government with their staff being re-designated employees of the Chinese government, requiring approval similar to diplomatic employees.<ref>{{cite web |title=China to expel New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post reporters &#124; CNN Business |last1=Flynn |first1=Kerry |last2=Jiang |first2=Steven |date=17 March 2020 |website=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/media/china-retaliates-against-us-media/index.html}}</ref>

China has periodically deported foreign journalists. [[Ursula Gauthier]], a journalist from France working for the media organization ''[[L'Obs]]'', was sent back to France after she commented on China's response to the [[November 2015 Paris attacks|Paris attacks]] that happened in November 2015. She noted that China's sympathetic stance wasn't "without ulterior motives."<ref>{{cite news |last=Gauthier |first=Ursula |date=17 November 2015 |title=Après les attentats, la solidarité de la Chine n'est pas sans arrière-pensées |language=French |work=L'Obs |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/attentats-terroristes-a-paris/20151117.OBS9681/apres-les-attentats-la-solidarite-de-la-chine-n-est-pas-sans-arriere-pensees.html |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref>

Gauthier had previously reported on [[persecution of Uyghurs in China|China's persecution of the Uyghur ethnic group]], many of whom believe in Islam. China often accuses Uyghur people of terrorism and has set up a system of camps, which they claim are "vocational training centers."<ref>{{cite web |title=China's Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang |last=Maizland |first=Lindsay |date=1 March 2021 |website=councilonforeignrelations.com |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang |access-date=12 October 2021 |quote="vocational training centers"}}</ref> However, those who have lived through the camps allege that the authorities torture, rape, and sexually abuse the prisoners as well as force them into unpaid labor and sterilize the women.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=21 June 2021 |title=Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide? |work=bbc.com |location=web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037 |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref> Moreover, many experts and foreign policymakers consider the detentions arbitrary rather than linked to provable terrorist charges.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Parliament resolution of 4 October 2018 on mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=4 October 2018 |website=europarl.eu |publisher=European Parliament |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0377_EN.html |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref> As such, journalists such as Gauthier have been critical of China's actions.

At the time of Gauthier's expulsion, she was the first journalist to be deported since China expelled [[Melissa Chan]] from Al Jazeera in 2015. Chan had reported on China's "[[black jails]]"<!-- caution: "black jail" is the wrong article --> and government land confiscation. Of her deportation, China Global Television Network's Yang Rui wrote, "We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing", according to ''The Wall Street Journal''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=18 May 2012 |title=State TV Host Offers Advice on How to Throw Out 'Foreign Trash' |work=The Wall Street Journal |location=wsj.com |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-15815 |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref>

====Information hyper-control====
The 2020 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), shows that China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists. Mainland China, which is trying to establish a "new world media order", maintains its system of information hyper-control, of which the negative effects for the entire world have been seen during the coronavirus public health crisis. It states that the PRC never stops enhancing its system of information hyper-control and persecution of dissident journalists and bloggers, and that further evidence of this came in February 2020, when two citizens were arrested for their coverage of the coronavirus crisis. China currently detains around 100 journalists, of whom the vast majority are Uyghurs.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 April 2020 |title=2020 World Press Freedom Index: "Entering a decisive decade for journalism, exacerbated by coronavirus" |website=RSF |language=en |url=https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus |access-date=13 October 2020}}</ref>

On 29 May 2022, the U.S. expressed concern over China's "efforts to restrict and manipulate" the UN human rights chief's visit to the Xinjiang region. The conditions imposed by the Beijing authorities on [[Michelle Bachelet]]'s visit, did not enable a complete and independent assessment of the human rights environment in China.<ref>{{cite web |title=US expresses concern after UN human rights chief visits China's Xinjiang |website=France 24 |date=29 May 2022 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220529-us-expresses-concern-after-un-human-rights-chief-visits-china |access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref>

====Freedom of the Internet====
{{Main|Internet censorship in China}}

More than sixty Internet regulations exist in mainland China and serve to monitor and control internet publication. These policies are implemented by provincial branches of state-owned Internet service providers, companies, and organizations.<ref>{{cite web |title=II. How Censorship Works in China: A Brief Overview |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm |access-date=30 August 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese Laws and Regulations Regarding Internet |publisher=Chinaeclaw.com |url=http://www.chinaeclaw.com/english/showCategory.asp?Code=022 |access-date=1 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220052125/http://www.chinaeclaw.com/english/showCategory.asp?Code=022 |archive-date=20 February 2012}}</ref> The apparatus of the PRC's and/or CCP's Internet control is considered more extensive and more advanced than in any other country in the world. The [[Golden Shield]] includes the ability to monitor online chatting services and mail, identifying IPs and all of the person's previous communication, and then being able to lock in on the person's location—because a person will usually use the computer at home or at work – which enables the arrest to be carried out.<ref>Ethan Gutmann (May/June 2010) {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20161224055812/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/hacker-nation-chinas-cyber-assault "Hacker Nation: China's Cyber Assault"]}}, World Affairs Journal</ref> Amnesty International notes that China "has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world"<ref>[http://www.internetfreedom.org/Background#Firewall_of_Shame "Background: Firewall of Shame"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318155807/http://www.internetfreedom.org/Background |date=18 March 2008}}, Global Internet Freedom Consortium, 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref> and Paris-based [[Reporters Without Borders]] stated in 2010 and 2012 that "China is the world's biggest prison for [[netizens]]."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/8/inside-china-719761130/?page=all "Inside China"], Miles Yu, ''The Washington Times'', 8 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref><ref>[https://en.rsf.org/china-china-12-03-2012,42077.html "2012 Internet Enemies: China"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084633/https://en.rsf.org/china-china-12-03-2012%2C42077.html |date=19 August 2014}}, Reporters Without Borders, 12 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref>

As an example of the censorship, in 2013, 24 years after the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]], online searches for the term 'Tiananmen Square' were still censored by Chinese authorities.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/04/tiananmen-square-online-search-censored Tiananmen Square online searches censored by Chinese authorities] Guardian 4 June 2013</ref> According to the Amnesty International report the controls on the [[Internet]], mass media, and [[academy|academia]] were significantly strengthened. For instance, Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Wikipedia are banned in mainland China.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 May 2019 |title=Here are all the major US tech companies blocked behind China's 'Great Firewall' |website=Business Insider Australia |language=en-AU |url=https://www.businessinsider.com.au/major-us-tech-companies-blocked-from-operating-in-china-2019-5 |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=9 November 2012 |title=Google services blocked in China |website=the Guardian |language=en |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/nov/09/google-services-blocked-china-gmail |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=iyouport.org |last2=Foundation |first2=Open Culture |last3=Singh |first3=Sukhbir |last4=Filastò |first4=Arturo |last5=Xynou2019-05-04 |first5=Maria |date=4 May 2019 |title=China is now blocking all language editions of Wikipedia |website=ooni.org |language=en |url=https://ooni.org/post/2019-china-wikipedia-blocking/ |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Censorship of wikipedia in China {{!}} GreatFire Analyzer|url=https://en.greatfire.org/search/all/wikipedia|access-date=12 November 2021|website=en.greatfire.org}}</ref> Repression of [[religion|religious]] activities outside of direct state control increased.<ref name="amnesty.org"/>

===Hukou system===
{{Further|Hukou system}}

The CCP came to power in the late 1940s and instituted a [[command economy]]. In 1958, [[Mao Zedong]], the [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party]], adopted a residency permit system defining where people could work, and classified workers as rural or urban.<ref name="autogenerated2">Macleod, Calum. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100922124029/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-reviews-apartheid-for-900m-peasants-673431.html 'China reviews "apartheid" for 900&nbsp;m peasants'], ''[[The Independent]]'', 10 June 2001.</ref><ref name="Wildasin"/><ref name="ChanSenser">'China's apartheid-like household registration system, which was introduced in the 1950s, still divides the population into two distinct groups, urban and rural.' Chan, Anita & Senser, Robert A. [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19970301faessay3758/anita-chan-robert-a-senser/china-s-troubled-workers.html 'China's Troubled Workers'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201616/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19970301faessay3758/anita-chan-robert-a-senser/china-s-troubled-workers.html |date=27 September 2007}}, ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', March / April 1997.</ref> In this system, a worker who was seeking to move from the country to an urban area in order to take up non-agricultural work would have to apply for permission to do so through the relevant bureaucratic institutions. There is uncertainty, however, as to how strictly the system has been enforced. People who worked outside the region in which they were registered would not qualify for grain rations, employer-provided housing, or health care.<ref name="Wildasin">David Pines, Efraim Sadka, Itzhak Zilcha, ''Topics in Public Economics: Theoretical and Applied Analysis'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 334.</ref> There were controls over education, employment, marriage, and other areas of life.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> One reason which was cited for the instituting of this system was the desire to prevent the possible chaos which would be caused by predictable large-scale urbanization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=T. |last2=Selden |first2=M. |title=The Origins and Social Consequences of China's Hukou System |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=139 |issue=139 |pages=644–668 |year=1994 |jstor=655134 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000043083 |s2cid=154754427}}</ref> As a part of the [[one country, two systems]] policy which was proposed by [[Deng Xiaoping]] and accepted by the British and Portuguese governments, the [[Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China|special administrative regions]] (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau retained separate border control and immigration policies with the rest of the PRC. Chinese nationals had to gain permission from the government before they were allowed to travel to [[Hong Kong]] or [[Macau]], but this requirement was officially abolished for each SAR after its respective handover. Since then, restrictions which have been imposed by the SAR governments have been the main factors which limit travel.

In 2000 ''[[The Washington Times]]'' reported that although migrant labourers play a major role in spreading wealth in Chinese villages, they are treated "like second-class citizens by a system which is so discriminatory that it has been likened to [[apartheid]]."<ref name="autogenerated3">Macleod, Calum and Macleod, Lijia ''China's migrants bear brunt of bias'', The Washington Times, 14 July 2000.</ref> Anita Chan also posits that the People's Republic of China's household registration and temporary residence permit system has created a situation which is analogous to the passbook system that was implemented in South Africa in order to control the supply and actions of cheap labourers<ref name="Chan">Chan, Anita, ''China's Workers under Assault: The Exploitation of Labor in a Globalizing Economy'', Introduction chapter, M.E. Sharpe. 2001, {{ISBN|0-7656-0358-6}}</ref> from underprivileged ethnic groups, as well as to control the quality and quantity of such labourers. In 2000, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy alleged that people of [[Han Chinese|Han descent]] in Tibet have a far easier time acquiring the necessary permits to live in urban areas than ethnic Tibetans do.<ref>{{cite web |title=Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000) |publisher=Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy |url=http://www.tchrd.org/publications/topical_reports/racial_discrimination-2000/housing/06_restrictions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902211908/http://www.tchrd.org/publications/topical_reports/racial_discrimination-2000/housing/06_restrictions.html |archive-date=2 September 2010}}</ref>

Abolition of this policy has been proposed in 11 provinces, mainly along the developed eastern coast. After a widely publicized incident in 2003, when a university-educated migrant died in Guangdong province, the law was changed in order to eliminate the possibility of summary arrest for migrant labourers. The Beijing law lecturer who exposed the incident said it spelt the end of the [[hukou system|''hukou'' system]]: he believed that in most smaller cities, the system had been abandoned, and it had 'almost lost its function' in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.<ref name="rethinks">Luard, Tim. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4424944.stm 'China rethinks peasant "apartheid{{"'}}], [[BBC News]], 10 November 2005.</ref>

====Treatment of rural workers====
In November 2005, [[Jiang Wenran]], acting director of the China Institute at the [[University of Alberta]], said that the ''hukou'' system was one of the most strictly enforced apartheid structures in modern world history.<ref name="Wenran">{{cite news |title=China rethinks peasant 'apartheid' |last=Luard |first=Tim |date=10 November 2005 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4424944.stm |access-date=22 August 2008}}</ref> He stated, "Urban dwellers enjoy a range of social, economic, and cultural benefits while peasants, the majority of the Chinese population, are treated like second-class citizens."<ref name="Wenran"/>

The discrimination which was enforced by the ''hukou'' system became particularly onerous in the 1980s after hundreds of millions of migrant workers were forced out of state corporations, co-operatives, and other institutions.<ref name="TheStar">'Chinese apartheid: Migrant labourers, numbering in the hundreds of millions, who have been ejected from state concerns and co-operatives since the 1980s as China instituted "socialist capitalism", have to have six passes before they are allowed to work in provinces other than their own. In many cities, private schools for migrant labourers are routinely closed down in order to discourage migration.' 'From politics to health policies: why they're in trouble', ''[[The Star (South Africa)|The Star]]'', 6 February 2007.</ref> Attempts to move to urban centers by workers who were classified as rural workers were tightly controlled by the Chinese bureaucracy, which enforced its control by denying them access to essential goods and services such as grain rations, housing, and health care,<ref name="Wildasin"/> and regularly closing down migrant workers' private schools.<ref name="TheStar"/> The ''hukou'' system also enforced [[pass laws]] which have been compared to those which existed in apartheid South Africa.<ref name="autogenerated2"/><ref name="Wildasin2">'As in South Africa under ''apartheid'', households in China faced severe restrictions on their mobility during the Mao era. The household registration system (''hukou'') system... specified where people could work and, in particular, it classified workers as either rural or urban workers. A worker who was seeking to move from rural agricultural employment to urban non-agricultural work would have to apply for permission to do so through the relevant bureaucracies, and the number of workers who were allowed to make such moves was tightly controlled. The enforcement of these controls was closely intertwined with state controls on the distribution of essential goods and services. For instance, unauthorized workers could not qualify for grain rations, employer-provided housing, or health care.' Wildasin, David E. 'Factor mobility, risk, inequality, and redistribution' in David Pines, Efraim Sadka, Itzhak Zilcha, ''Topics in Public Economics: Theoretical and Applied Analysis'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 334.</ref><ref name="ChanSenser"/><ref name="Chan2">The permit system controls migrant workers in a way which is similar to the passbook system which existed under apartheid.Most migrant workers live in crowded dormitories which are provided to them by the factories or they live in shanties. Their transient existence is precarious and exploitative. In the Chinese case, the discrimination which migrant workers are subjected to is not based on race, but the control mechanisms which are set in place in order to regulate the supply of cheap labor in the so-called free labor market, the underlying economic logic of the system, and the abusive consequences which are suffered by the migrant workers, share many of the characteristics which existed under the apartheid system.' Chan, Anita. ''China's Workers Under Assault: The Exploitation of Labor in a Globalizing Economy'', M.E. Sharpe, 2001, p. 9.</ref><ref name="Chan"/><ref name="Waddington">'The application of these regulations is reminiscent of apartheid South Africa's hated pass laws. The police periodically carry out raids in order to round up those who do not possess temporary residence permits. Those who are without papers are placed in detention centers and then they are removed from cities.' Waddington, Jeremy. ''Globalization and Patterns of Labour Resistance'', Routledge, 1999, p. 82.</ref><ref>'HIGHLIGHT: Discrimination against rural migrants is China's apartheid: Certainly, the discrimination against the country-born is China's form of apartheid. It is an offence against human rights on a much bigger scale than the treatment of the tiny handful of dissidents who are dogged enough to speak up against the state.' 'Country Cousins', ''[[The Economist]]'', 8 April 2000.</ref><ref>'...China's apartheid-like system of residency permits.' Yao, Shunli. [http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/shunli1 'China's WTO Revolution'], ''[[Project Syndicate]]'', June 2002.</ref> Rural workers who wanted to work in provinces other than their own were required to possess six passes,<ref name="TheStar"/> and the police periodically conducted raids in which they rounded up those workers who were without permits, placed them in detention centers for a short period of time, and then deported them.<ref name="Waddington"/> It is also found that rural workers have been paid under minimum wage to nothing at all. A group of coal miners in Shuangyashan were being paid little to nothing. With the families and people whom they had to care for, each and every one of the workers protested for the money that they deserved.<ref><span data-ve-clipboard-key="0.5661740147738564-1"> </span>Hornby, Lucy, Luna Lin, and Christian Shepherd. 2016. "China police round up protesting coal miners." ''The Financial Times'', 2016. ''Business Insights: Essentials'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed 24 October 2017).</ref> As in South Africa, the restrictions placed on the mobility of migrant workers were pervasive,<ref name="TheStar"/> and transient workers were forced to live a precarious existence in company dormitories or [[shanty town]]s, suffering abusive consequences.<ref name="Chan"/> Anita Chan comments further that China's household registration and temporary residence permit system has created a situation analogous to the passbook system in apartheid South Africa, which were designed to regulate the supply of cheap labor.

The [[Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Ministry of Public Security]] has justified these practices on the grounds that they have assisted the police in tracking down criminals and maintaining public order, and they have also provided demographic data for government planning and programs.<ref name="Laquian">'The ''hukou'' system has been criticized in some quarters and has been called "the equivalent of an apartheid system between rural and urban residents" (''China Labor Bulletin'', 25 February 2002). However, the Ministry of Public Security has continued to justify the ''hukou'' system as an instrument for keeping public order (the ministry said it allowed the police to track down criminals more easily) and for providing demographic data for planning and program formulation.' Laquian, Aprodicio A. ''Beyond Metropolis: The Planning and Governance of Asia's Mega-Urban Regions'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005, pp. 320–321.</ref>

===Freedom of association===
{{Main|Freedom of association|Labour law|}}
The People's Republic of China does not allow freedom of association in general; in particular, it does not allow a free choice of membership with trade unions and political parties. Under the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (UDHR), articles 20 and 23, every worker has the right to join an association of their choosing, to have their interests represented against their employer, and to take [[collective action]] including the [[right to strike]]. In China, on a model similar to the [[Deutsche Arbeitsfront]] from 1934 to 1945 in Germany, the [[All-China Federation of Trade Unions]] has a monopoly on union activity: it is effectively a nationalized organization. This dynamic violates [[International Labour Organization]] Conventions Number [[Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention|87]] and [[Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949|98]] on freedom of association and collective bargaining. The leadership of the ACFTU is not freely elected by its members, and it is not independent from the state or employers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bai |first=Ruixue |title=The Role of the All China Federation of Trade Unions: Implications for Chinese Workers Today |date=March 4, 2011 |journal=WorkingUSA - Journal of Labor and Society |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=19–39 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-4580.2010.00318.x |via=Wiley Online Library |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-4580.2010.00318.x}}</ref>

The CCP effectively monopolizes organized political activity in China. There is, therefore, no possibility of genuine electoral competition at any level of government, nor within the Party itself. This violates the UDHR article 21(1), which states, 'Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.'

===Religious freedom===
{{Main|Religion in China|Freedom of religion in China|Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party}}

During the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976), particularly during the [[Four Olds|Destruction of the Four Olds]] campaign, [[religion in China|religious affairs]] of all types were persecuted, renunciated, and strongly discouraged by [[Maoism|Chairman Mao Zedong's government and its ideological allies]]. Many religious buildings were looted or destroyed. Since then, there have been efforts to repair, reconstruct and protect historical and cultural religious sites.<ref>Trevor H.B. Sofield and Li, Fung Mei Sarah:[http://www.istp.murdoch.edu.au/ISTP/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/tourchin/tourchin.html China: Tourism Development and Cultural Policies] Annals of Tourism Research, 25 (2), 1998, pp. 362–392.</ref> In its International Religious Freedom Report for 2013, the US Department of State criticized the PRC as follows:

{{Blockquote|The government's respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom fell well short of its international human rights commitments. (...) The government harassed, detained, arrested, or sentenced to prison a number of religious adherents for activities reported to be related to their religious beliefs and practices. These activities included assembling for religious worship, expressing religious beliefs in public and in private, and publishing religious texts. There were also reports of physical abuse and torture in detention.<ref>United States Department of State, [https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper International Religious Freedom Report for 2013: China], 2013.</ref>}}

The 1982 Constitution provides its citizens the right to believe in any religion, as well as the right to refrain from doing so:

{{Blockquote|Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organization, public organization, or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens, or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html Constitution of the PRC]", ''People''s daily China</ref>}}

Members of the Communist Party are officially required to be [[atheism|atheists]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Country of Origin Information Report: China |date=28 April 2011 |url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/china-190107.doc |access-date=9 May 2011 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070906203028/http%3A//www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/china%2D190107.doc |archive-date=6 September 2007}}</ref> but this rule is not regularly enforced and many party members privately engage in religious activities.<ref>{{cite web |title=CAMBOGIA Missionario Pime: Mons. Destombes "martire bianco" della Chiesa cambogiana |url=http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5509 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927145832/http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5509 |archive-date=27 September 2008}}</ref> Global studies from [[Pew Research Center]] in 2014 and 2017 ranked the Chinese government's restrictions on religion as among the highest in the world, despite low to moderate rankings for religious-related social hostilities in the country.<ref name="Pew-2016">{{cite web |date=23 June 2016 |title=Middle East-North Africa was region with highest restrictions and hostilities in 2014 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2016/06/23/middle-east-north-africa-was-region-with-highest-restrictions-and-hostilities-in-2014/ |access-date=30 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Pew-2019">{{cite web |date=15 July 2019 |title=Middle East still home to highest levels of restrictions on religion |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/15/middle-east-still-home-to-highest-levels-of-restrictions-on-religion-although-levels-have-declined-since-2016/ |access-date=30 October 2020}}</ref>

====Christianity====
{{Main|Christianity in China#Since 1949: The People's Republic}}
{{See also|Persecution of Christians#Current situation (1989 to the present)#China|Persecution of Christians in the post–Cold War era#China}}

The Chinese government tries to maintain tight control over all [[organized religion]]s, including Christianity. The only legal Christian groups are the [[Three-Self Patriotic Movement]] and the [[Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association]], the latter of which has been condemned by the Pope.<ref name="vatican.va">{{cite web |title=Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops, priests, consecrated persons, and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html}} (See in particular section 8, paragraph 12; and section 10, paragraph 6.)</ref> Both of these groups are under the control of the CCP. The members of the illegal, underground Catholic church and members of Protestant [[Chinese house church|house churches]] face prosecution from PRC authorities.<ref name="Pegasus">{{cite book
|edition=First Edition, First Printing
|publisher=Pegasus
|isbn=978-1-933648-47-7
|last=Hewitt
|first=Duncan
|title=China: Getting Rich First: A Modern Social History
|date=15 June 2008
|url=https://archive.org/details/chinagettingrich00hewi
}}</ref>
<ref>Nicola Davison [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/may/24/chinese-christianity-underground Chinese Christianity will not be crushed], ''The Guardian'', 24 May 2011.</ref>

In 2007, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association elected a Catholic bishop of Beijing to replace the deceased Fu Tieshan.<ref>{{cite web |title=The new Bishop of Beijing is elected |url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9856&size=A}}</ref> The standard Catholic practice is for a bishop to be appointed by the Pope;<ref>{{cite web |title=How Bishops Are Appointed |url=http://usccb.org/about/leadership/appointing-bishops.cfm}}</ref> the Catholic Church does not recognize the legitimacy of bishops elected by the Association, but not appointed by the Pope.<ref name="vatican.va"/> According to Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church in particular is viewed in China as a foreign power. Its situation is somewhat analogous to that of the Catholic Church in Post-Reformation England, in which the official church was also controlled by the state.<ref name="Pegasus"/><ref>{{cite web |title=letter of Pope Benedict XI to the Catholic Church in the PRC |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html}}</ref>

In early January 2018, Chinese authorities in Shanxi province demolished a church, which created a wave of fear among the Christians.<ref>{{cite news |last=Haas |first=Benjamin |date=11 January 2018 |title=China church demolition sparks fears of campaign against Christians |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/11/china-church-demolition-sparks-fears-of-campaign-against-christians |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gerry Shih |date=11 January 2018 |title=Chinese authorities demolish well-known evangelical church |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |issn=0190-8286 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-authorities-demolish-well-known-evangelical-church/2018/01/11/d34a278c-f6a3-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111093637/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-authorities-demolish-well-known-evangelical-church/2018/01/11/d34a278c-f6a3-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html |archive-date=11 January 2018}}</ref> In reports of countries with the strongest [[persecution of Christians|anti-Christian persecution]], China was ranked by the [[Open Doors (charitable foundation)|Open Doors]] organization in 2019 as the 27th most severe country<ref name="Pew-2016"/><ref name="Pew-2019"/> and in 2020 as 23rd most severe.<ref>{{cite web |title=WORLD WATCH LIST 2020 (page 11) |website=Open Doors |url=https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_World_Watch_List.pdf |access-date=10 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121234522/https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_World_Watch_List.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Tibetan.shrine1.jpg|thumb|Tibet Buddhist Shrine]]

====Tibetan Buddhism====
{{See also|Human rights in Tibet|Labour camps in Tibet}}

The [[Dalai Lama]] is a highly influential figure in [[Tibetan Buddhism]], who has traditionally lived in Tibet. Because of Chinese governmental control over the Tibetan area, the [[14th Dalai Lama|current Dalai Lama]] resides in [[Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh]], in the Republic of India. In [[State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5|a regulation promulgated 3 August 2007]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism (ICT Translation) {{!}} Congressional-Executive Commission on China |website=cecc.gov |url=https://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/measures-on-the-management-of-the-reincarnation-of-living-buddhas-in-0 |access-date=2023-08-26}}</ref> the Chinese government declared that after 1 September 2007, "[no] living Buddha [may be reincarnated] without government approval, since the Qing dynasty, when the live Buddha system was established."<ref name="permissiontoreincarnate">{{cite news |title=China tells crazy living buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate |url=http://www.religiongonecrazy.com/china-tells-crazy-living-buddhas-to-obtain-permission-before-they-reincarnate/ |access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reincarnation of living Buddha needs gov't approval |website=chinadaily.com.cn |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/04/content_5448242.htm |access-date=2023-08-26}}</ref> The PRC Government-appointed [[Panchen Lama]] is labelled a fake<ref>{{cite news |title=World's youngest political prisoner turns 17 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=23 April 2006 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042301349.html |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref> by those who regard the PRC's effort to control organized religion as contradictory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other ethical principles.

Examples of the political controls exercised over religion in 1998 include:<ref name="icywind">{{cite news |title=Icy Wind From Beijing Chills the Monks of Tibet |work=The New York Times |last=Faison |first=Seth |date=18 November 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E5DF1630F93BA25752C1A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>
* quotas on the number of monks to reduce the spiritual population;
* forced denunciation of the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader;
* the expulsion of unapproved monks from monasteries;
* forced recitation of patriotic scripts supporting China;
* restriction of religious study before age 18.

Monks celebrating the reception of the US Congressional Gold Medal<ref>{{cite news |last=Un News Centre |title=China must urgently address rights violations in Tibet – UN senior official |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> by the Dalai Lama have been detained by the PRC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Forcing silence in Tibet as Dalai Lama receives US Congressional Gold Medal |url=http://www.tchrd.org/press/2007/pr20071023.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402102410/http://www.tchrd.org/press/2007/pr20071023.html |archive-date=2 April 2008}}</ref> In November 2012 the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner urged the PRC to address the allegations of rights violations in Tibet; the violations had led to an alarming escalation of 'desperate' forms of protest in the region, including self-immolations.<ref name="UN News Centre"/> Amnesty International report reports that Xinjiang Uyghur [[autonomy|Autonomous]] Region and in Tibetan-populated areas.<ref name="CHINA 2016/2017">[https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/china/report-china/ CHINA 2016/2017]</ref>

Tibetans who opposed the diversion of irrigation water by Chinese authorities to the [[China Gold International Resources]] mining operations were detained, tortured, and murdered.<ref name="thetibetpost.com">{{cite news |date=3 December 2010 |title=Protest in Hong kong Against Chinese Mining in Tibet |agency=The Tibet Post International |url=http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/1287-protest-in-hong-kong-against-chinese-mining-in-tibet |access-date=16 June 2011}}</ref> Allegations of what the [[PRC]] officially labelled 'judicial mutilation' against Tibetans by the [[Dalai Lama]]'s government, and the [[serfdom in Tibet controversy|serfdom controversy]], have been cited by the PRC as reasons to [[invasion of Tibet (1950–1951)|interfere]] for what they claim was the welfare of Tibetans,<ref>Barnett, Robert, in: Blondeau, Anne-Marie and Buffetrille, Katia (eds). ''Authenticating Tibet: Answers to China's 100 Questions'' (2008) University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-24464-1}} (cloth); {{ISBN|978-0-520-24928-8}} (paper).</ref> although their claims of 'judicial mutilation' are controversial and subject to scepticism and dispute by foreign countries and international organizations. Conflicting reports about Tibetan human rights have been produced since then. The PRC claims that Tibet has been enjoying a cultural revival since the 1950s, whereas the Dalai Lama says 'whether intentionally or unintentionally, somewhere [[cultural genocide]] is taking place'.<ref>{{cite news |date=25 September 2008 |title=China says it defends Tibetan culture |agency=Reuters India |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-35648320080925 |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 September 2004 |title=Legal Standards and Autonomy Options for Minorities in China: THE TIBETAN CASE |url=http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/1940/legal_standards_and_autonomy_options_for_minorities_in_china.html |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref>

Following the [[Chinese economic reform]], businesspeople from other parts of China have made many business trips to Tibet, although most do not stay in the region. The ''[[New York Times]]'' has cited this ethnic diversity in Tibet as a cause of "ethnic tensions". It has also disagreed significantly with the promotion by PRC authorities of home ownership in nomadic Tibetan societies.<ref name="cmm">{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Wong |date=24 July 2010 |title=China's Money and Migrants Pour into Tibet |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/world/asia/25tibet.html |access-date=30 July 2010}}</ref> Western politicians often level the charge that the [[Tibetan languages]] are at risk of extinction in Tibet.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 February 2008 |title=Report reveals determined Chinese assault on Tibetan language |publisher=Free Tibet |url=http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/report-reveals-determined-chinese-assault-tibetan-language |access-date=7 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725060858/http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/report-reveals-determined-chinese-assault-tibetan-language |archive-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> Others, however, both inside and outside China and Tibet, claim that for a vast majority of Tibetans, who live in rural areas, the Chinese language is merely introduced as a second language in secondary school.<ref>Sautman, B. 2003. "Cultural Genocide and Tibet", Texas Journal of International Law 38:2:173-246</ref>

====Uyghurs====
{{See also|Persecution of Uyghurs in China|Xinjiang conflict|Xinjiang internment camps}}
{{Cleanup section|reason=[[WP:PROSELINE]]|date=October 2023}}
Article 36 of the PRC Constitution provides constitutional protection for citizens' freedom of religion and the country's official ethnic policies also reiterate protection of the freedom of religion of ethnic minorities, but in practice the Uyghur population, predominantly living in the [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]], are subject to strict controls on the practice of Islam.<ref name="Treatment of the Uyghur Ethnic Group in the People's Republic of China">U.S. Department of Justice (March 2015) [http://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports/2008-annual-report 'Annual Report 2008']. Retrieved 6 December 2017.</ref>

Examples of these restrictions now include:
*Official religious practices must be held in government-approved mosques;
*Uyghurs under 18 years old are not allowed to enter mosques or pray in school;
*The study of religious texts is only permitted in designated state schools;
*Government informers regularly attend religious gatherings in mosques;
*Women are not allowed to wear headscarves and veils and men are not allowed to have beards;
*The use of traditionally Islamic names (e.g., Abdul), is banned.

Since the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, Chinese counter-terror legislation has made explicit links between religion and extremism, and has led to regulations that explicitly ban religious expression among Uyghurs in particular.

Since 2017, reports have surfaced that around a million Muslims ([[Uyghurs|Uyghur Chinese]] citizens and some Central Asian nationals) were detained in [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]] throughout Xinjiang without trial or access to a lawyer.<ref name="Ramzy-2019"/> In these camps they were allegedly 're-educated' to disavow their Islamic beliefs and habitats while praising the Communist Party. The camps have expanded rapidly, with almost no judicial process or legal paperwork.<ref name="Ramzy-2019">{{cite news |title='Absolutely No Mercy': Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims |last1=Ramzy |first1=Austin |date=16 November 2019 |work=The New York Times |last2=Buckley |first2=Chris |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html |access-date=16 November 2019}}</ref> Chinese officials are quoted in state media as saying that these measures are to fight separatism and Islamic extremism.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gerry Shih |last2=Dake Kang |date=18 May 2018 |title=Muslims forced to drink alcohol and eat pork in China's 're-education' camps, former inmate claims |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-re-education-muslims-ramadan-xinjiang-eat-pork-alcohol-communist-xi-jinping-a8357966.html |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Zenz |first=Adrian |date=20 June 2018 |title=Reeducation Returns to China |magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-06-20/reeducation-returns-china |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="indy">{{cite web |date=5 July 2019 |title='Cultural genocide': China separating thousands of Muslim children from parents for 'thought education' |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |access-date=27 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422051855/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |archive-date=22 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="hrw._UN:U">{{cite web |date=10 July 2019 |title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses |access-date=18 December 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses |archive-date=17 December 2019}}</ref> Critics of the policy have described it as the [[sinicization]] of [[Xinjiang]] and called it an [[ethnocide]] or [[cultural genocide]],<ref name="indy"/><ref>{{cite news |date=17 December 2019 |title='Cultural genocide' for repressed minority of Uighurs |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cultural-genocide-for-repressed-minority-of-uighurs-bp0w6dw89 |access-date=27 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425012712/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cultural-genocide-for-repressed-minority-of-uighurs-bp0w6dw89 |archive-date=25 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=28 November 2019 |title=China's Oppression of the Uighurs 'The Equivalent of Cultural Genocide' |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/chinese-oppression-of-the-uighurs-like-cultural-genocide-a-1298171.html |access-date=27 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121105242/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/chinese-oppression-of-the-uighurs-like-cultural-genocide-a-1298171.html |archive-date=21 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 September 2019 |title=Fear and oppression in Xinjiang: China's war on Uighur culture |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77 |access-date=27 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414154451/https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77 |archive-date=14 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Uyghur Minority in China: A Case Study of Cultural Genocide, Minority Rights and the Insufficiency of the International Legal Framework in Preventing State-Imposed Extinction |year=2020 |doi=10.3390/laws9010001 |last1=Finnegan |first1=Ciara |journal=Laws |volume=9 |page=1 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=Summer 2019 |title=China's crime against Uyghurs is a form of genocide |journal=Fourth World Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=76–88 |last1=Fallon |first1=Joseph E. |url=https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=508909415820545;res=IELIAC |access-date=27 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201093948/https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=508909415820545;res=IELIAC |archive-date=1 February 2020}}</ref> with many activists, [[NGO]]s, human rights experts, government officials, and the [[U.S. government]] calling it a [[genocide]].<ref name="Globe-genocide">{{cite news |last=Carbert |first=Michelle |date=20 July 2020 |title=Activists urge Canada to recognize Uyghur abuses as genocide, impose sanctions on Chinese officials |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-activists-urge-canada-to-recognize-uyghur-abuses-as-genocide-impose/ |access-date=20 October 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101021840/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-activists-urge-canada-to-recognize-uyghur-abuses-as-genocide-impose/ |archive-date=1 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Quartz-genocide">{{cite news |last=Steger |first=Isabella |date=20 August 2020 |title=On Xinjiang, even those wary of Holocaust comparisons are reaching for the word "genocide" |work=[[Quartz (publication) |Quartz]] |url=https://qz.com/1892791/a-consensus-is-growing-that-chinas-uyhgurs-face-genocide/ |access-date=20 October 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023143016/https://qz.com/1892791/a-consensus-is-growing-that-chinas-uyhgurs-face-genocide/ |archive-date=23 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="fore_Mene">{{cite web |date=27 October 2020 |title=Menendez, Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Designate Uyghur Human Rights Abuses by China as Genocide |work=foreign.senate.gov |publisher=[[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]] |url=https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/menendez-cornyn-introduce-bipartisan-resolution-to-designate-uyghur-human-rights-abuses-by-china-as-genocide |access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="blac_Blac">{{cite web |date=3 December 2020 |title=Blackburn Responds to Offensive Comments by Chinese State Media |publisher=U.S. Senator [[Marsha Blackburn]] of Tennessee |url=https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2020/12/blackburn-responds-to-offensive-comments-by-chinese-state-media/accb2b20-54e8-4926-a643-5f2a1cde31fa |access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="icij_Brit">{{cite web |last=Alecci |first=Scilla |date=14 October 2020 |title=British lawmakers call for sanctions over Uighur human rights abuses |publisher=[[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/british-lawmakers-call-for-sanctions-over-uighur-human-rights-abuses/ |access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="ourc_Comm">{{cite web |date=21 October 2020 |title=Committee News Release – October 21, 2020 – SDIR (43–2) |publisher=[[House of Commons of Canada]] |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/SDIR/news-release/10903199 |access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="Pompeo-2021">{{cite news |last=Pompeo |first=Mike |date=19 January 2021 |title=Genocide in Xinjiang |language=en |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/genocide-in-xinjiang-11611078180 |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="wsj._U.S._says">{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Michael R. |date=19 January 2021 |title=U.S. Says China Is Committing 'Genocide' Against Uighur Muslims |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-declares-chinas-treatment-of-uighur-muslims-to-be-genocide-11611081555 |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref>

New bans and regulations were implemented on 1 April 2017. Abnormally long beards and wearing veils in public were both banned.<ref name="Shepherd-2017">{{cite news |last1=Shepherd |first1=Christian |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ben |date=30 March 2017 |title=China sets rules on beards, veils to combat extremism in Xinjiang |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/china-xinjiang-int-idUSKBN1710DD |access-date=11 December 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221060423/https://www.reuters.com/article/china-xinjiang-int-idUSKBN1710DD |archive-date=21 December 2019}}</ref> Not watching state-run television or listening to radio broadcasts, refusing to abide by family planning policies, or refusing to allow one's children to attend state-run schools were all prohibited.<ref name="Shepherd-2017"/> Giving a child a name that would "exaggerate religious fervor", such as [[Muhammad]], was made illegal. Along with this, many mosques were demolished or destroyed.<ref name="Shepherd-2017"/>

According to [[Radio Free Asia]], the Chinese government jailed Uyghur Imam Abduheber Ahmet after he took his son to a religious school not sanctioned by the Chinese state. Ahmet had previously been lauded by China as a "five-star" imam but was sentenced in 2018 to over five years in prison for his action.<ref name="Hoshur-2018">{{cite web |last=Hoshur |first=Shohret |author-link=Shohret Hoshur |date=10 May 2018 |title=Xinjiang Authorities Jail Uyghur Imam Who Took Son to Unsanctioned Religious School |website=Radio Free Asia |language=en |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/imam-05102018155405.html |access-date=4 December 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204233459/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/imam-05102018155405.html |archive-date=4 December 2019}}</ref>

Also in 2018, over one million Chinese government workers began forcibly living in the homes of Uyghur families to monitor and assess resistance to assimilation, and to watch for frowned-upon religious or cultural practices.<ref name="Byler-2018">{{cite news |last=Byler |first=Darren |date=9 November 2018 |title=Why Chinese civil servants are happy to occupy Uyghur homes in Xinjiang |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/opinions/uyghur-home-visit-opinion-intl/index.html}}</ref><ref name="Westcott-2019">{{cite web |last1=Westcott |first1=Ben |last2=Xiong |first2=Yong |title=Xinjiang's Uyghurs didn't choose to be Muslim, new Chinese report says |date=22 July 2019 |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghur-muslim-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=2 December 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219115041/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghur-muslim-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=19 December 2019}}</ref> These government workers were trained to call themselves "relatives" and have been described in Chinese state media as being a key part of enhancing "ethnic unity".<ref name="Byler-2018"/>

In addition, records of the government indicate that thousands of Uyghur children have been separated from their parents.<ref name="uighur children">{{cite news |last1=Kuo |first1=Lily |date=16 October 2020 |title=Chinese detention 'leaving thousands of Uighur children without parents' |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/16/thousands-of-uighur-children-orphaned-by-chinese-detention-papers-show}}</ref> New evidence shows that over 9,500 children in Yarkand county had at least one parent detained, most of them are Uyghur children.<ref name="uighur children"/> According to the researcher Adrian Zenz, in 2019, the number of children living in boarding facilities increased by 76%, reaching a total of 880,500 children.<ref name="uighur children"/>

In March 2020, the Chinese government was found to be using the Uyghur minority for forced labor, inside [[sweat shop]]s. According to a report published then by the [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]] (ASPI), no fewer than around 80,000 Uyghurs were forcibly removed from the region of Xinjiang and used for forced labor in at least twenty-seven corporate factories.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Xu |first1=Vicky Xiuzhong |last2=Cave |first2=Danielle |last3=Leiboid |first3=James |last4=Munro |first4=Kelsey |last5=Ruser |first5=Nathan |date=February 2020 |title=Uyghurs for Sale |website=Australian Strategic Policy Institute |language=en |url=https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> According to the Business and Human Rights resource center, corporations such as [[Abercrombie & Fitch]], [[Adidas]], [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[BMW]], [[Fila (company)|Fila]], [[Gap Inc.|Gap]], [[H&M]], [[Inditex]], [[Marks & Spencer]], [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], [[The North Face|North Face]], [[Puma (brand)|Puma]], [[PVH (company)|PVH]], [[Samsung]], and [[Uniqlo|UNIQLO]] have sourced from these factories prior to the publication of the ASPI report.<ref>{{cite web |title=China: 83 major brands implicated in report on forced labour of ethnic minorities from Xinjiang assigned to factories across provinces; Includes company responses – Business & Human Rights Resource Centre |website=business-humanrights.org |language=en |url=https://www.business-humanrights.org/ |access-date=10 February 2021}}</ref>

On 10 October 2020, the UK shadow foreign secretary, [[Lisa Nandy]] urged Britain to block China's seat on the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] over the country's treatment of Uyghur Muslims.<ref>{{cite web |title=Block China's seat on human rights council over Uighurs, urges Lisa Nandy |website=The Guardian |date=10 October 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/10/block-chinas-seat-on-human-rights-council-over-uighurs-urges-lisa-nandy |access-date=10 October 2020}}</ref>

On 19 January 2021, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally declared that China is committing a genocide against the Uyghurs and [[crimes against humanity]]. In a written letter, Pompeo wrote, "I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state."<ref name="PompeoDeclaresUighurGenocide">{{cite web |title=EXPLAINER: Why US accused China of genocide and what's next |website=The Independent |date=20 January 2021 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/explainer-why-us-accused-china-of-genocide-and-whats-next-china-xinjiang-labor-us-genocide-b1789886.html |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> Pompeo called for "all appropriate multilateral and relevant juridical bodies, to join the United States in our effort to promote accountability for those responsible for these atrocities."<ref>{{cite web |title=Mike Pompeo declares China's treatment of Uighurs 'genocide' |website=The Guardian |date=19 January 2021 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/19/mike-pompeo-china-uighur-genocide-sanctions-xinjiang |access-date=21 January 2021}}</ref> China strongly denies that human rights abuses are going on in Xinjiang.<ref name="PompeoDeclaresUighurGenocide"/> Pompeo has previously stated that China is trying to "erase its own citizens."<ref>{{cite web |title=Pompeo urges world to resist China's demands to repatriate ethnic Uighurs |website=Reuters |date=20 January 2021 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/explainer-why-us-accused-china-of-genocide-and-whats-next-china-xinjiang-labor-us-genocide-b1789886.html |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>

In 2021, independent sources reported that Uyghur women in China's internment camps have been systematically raped, sexually abused, and tortured.<ref name="goal-destroy"/> Victims said there is a system of organized rape.<ref name="goal-destroy"/> The Chinese police also electrocute and torture them.<ref name="goal-destroy"/> There is planned dehumanization, sterilization, and torture.<ref name="goal-destroy">{{cite web |website=BBC |title='Their goal is to destroy everyone': Uighur camp detainees allege systematic rape |date=3 February 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209022817/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071 |archive-date=9 February 2021}}</ref> China has undertaken a deliberate campaign to weaken and eradicate any vestiges of Uyghur culture, employing measures such as curtailing religious liberties and enforcing assimilation. Detainees have recounted experiences of being coerced to abandon their beliefs and swear allegiance to the CCP using methods reminiscent of psychological manipulation.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2021-04-19 |title="Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots" |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/19/break-their-lineage-break-their-roots/chinas-crimes-against-humanity-targeting}}</ref>

On 16 August 2021, a young Chinese woman, named Wu Huan, told the ''[[Associated Press]]'' in her testimony that she was allegedly held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in the [[United Arab Emirates]], along with two other Uyghurs. Wu Huan said she was abducted from a hotel in [[Dubai]] and detained by Chinese officials at a villa converted into a jail. It was the first evidence that China was operating a "black site" beyond its borders.<ref>{{cite web |title=Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs |website=The Associated Press |date=16 August 2021 |url=https://apnews.com/article/china-dubai-uyghurs-60d049c387b99b1238ebd5f1d3bb3330 |access-date=16 August 2021}}</ref>

On 31 August 2022, the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|UN Human Rights Office]] issued an assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The report published in the wake of the visit by UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, [[Michelle Bachelet]], stated that "allegations of patterns of torture, or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence."<ref>{{cite web |title=UN Human Rights Office issues assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang, China |website=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/08/un-human-rights-office-issues-assessment-human-rights-concerns-xinjiang |access-date=31 August 2022}}</ref>

A leaked document known as "The China Cables" details the conditions in the aforementioned internment camps.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 November 2019 |title=Data leak details China's 'brainwashing system' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50511063 |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=24 November 2019 |title=Exposed: China's Operating Manuals for Mass Internment and Arrest by Algorithm |language=en-US |website=ICIJ |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/exposed-chinas-operating-manuals-for-mass-internment-and-arrest-by-algorithm/ |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=24 November 2019 |title=Secret documents reveal how China mass detention camps work |website=AP NEWS |url=https://apnews.com/4ab0b341a4ec4e648423f2ec47ea5c47 |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref> These documents describe guidelines on a variety of things: preventing escapes, monitoring the Uyghurs, disciplining the Uyghurs, and much more. They are taught Mandarin and about Chinese culture. However, some claim this is renouncing their culture to conform to the communist party.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inside Chinese camps thought to be detaining a million Muslims |website=NBC News |date=4 October 2019 |language=en |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/inside-chinese-camps-thought-detain-million-muslim-uighurs-n1062321 |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref> Many Chinese officials have already dismissed the claims of breaching human rights and the contents of these documents. They refer to these camps as voluntary education centers where the Uyghurs are reeducated. The goal of these camps, according to former Chinese ambassador [[Liu Xiaoming]], is to prevent terrorism.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 January 2020 |title=This dissident leaked explosive documents depicting China's brutal treatment of Uighurs |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/this-dissident-leaked-explosive-documents-depicting-chinas-brutal-treatment-of-uighurs |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref> A [[United Nations]] assessment of [[human rights]] regarding the [[Xinjiang]] Uyghurs stated it is "reasonable to conclude that a pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention occurred in [vocational education and training centre] facilities, at least during 2017 to 2019", negating previous [[government of China|Chinese government]] claims that the facilities were schools or training centres where participants were free to join and leave.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 September 2022 |title=Five key points from the UN report on Xinjiang human rights abuses |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/01/five-key-points-from-the-un-report-on-xinjiang-china-human-rights-abuses-uyghur-muslims}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=31 August 2022 |title=OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China |website=United Nations Human Rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf}}</ref>

The [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]] (FCDO) gave statement on China's human rights violations in Xinjiang, following a visit to the region by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. An FCDO spokesperson said, "It is clear that the Chinese authorities did not provide the full, unfettered access to Xinjiang for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that we and our international partners have long called for. China's failure to grant such access only serves to highlight their determination to hide the truth."<ref>{{cite web |title=FCDO statement on China's human rights violations in Xinjiang: 30 May 2022 |website=GOV.UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fcdo-statement-on-chinas-human-rights-violations-in-xinjiang-30-may-2022 |access-date=30 May 2022}}</ref>

====Falun Gong====
{{Main|Persecution of Falun Gong}}

Following a period of meteoric growth of [[Falun Gong]] in the 1990s, the Communist Party, which was then led by General Secretary [[Jiang Zemin]], banned Falun Gong on 20 July 1999. An extra-constitutional body called the [[6-10 Office]] was created to lead the suppression of Falun Gong.<ref name="CECC2008">Congressional-Executive Commission on China (31 October 2008) [http://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports/2008-annual-report 'Annual Report 2008']. Retrieved 24 December 2013.</ref> The authorities mobilized the state media apparatus, judiciary, police, army, the education system, families, and workplaces against the group.<ref name="wildgrass">{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Ian |title=Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China |year=2005 |publisher=Vintage |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-375-71919-6}}</ref> The campaign is driven by large-scale propaganda through television, newspaper, radio, and internet.<ref name="Leung">Leung, Beatrice (2002) 'China and Falun Gong: Party and society relations in the modern era', Journal of Contemporary China, 11:33, 761 – 784</ref> There are reports of systematic torture,<ref name="heretical">(23 March 2000) [https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/011/2000/en/ The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called ''heretical organizations''], Amnesty International</ref><ref name="breaking">{{cite news |author1=Philip Pan |author2=John Pomfret |title=Torture is Breaking Falun Gong |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=5 August 2001 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/08/05/torture-is-breaking-falun-gong/ea6c5341-c7a7-47c9-9674-053049b7323d/ |access-date=10 April 2012}}</ref> illegal imprisonment, forced labour, [[persecution of Falun Gong#Organ harvesting|organ harvesting]],<ref name="orgharv"/> and abusive psychiatric measures, with the apparent aim of forcing practitioners to recant their belief in Falun Gong.<ref>Mickey Spiegel (2002) [http://hrw.org/reports/2002/china "Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign Against Falungong"] Human Rights Watch</ref>

Foreign observers estimate that hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained in "[[re-education through labor]]" camps, prisons, and other detention facilities for refusing to renounce the spiritual practice.<ref name="CECC2008"/><ref name="Departmentof">U.S. Department of State, [https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eap/135989.htm 2009 Country Report on Human Rights: China (includes Hong Kong and Macau)]</ref> Former prisoners have reported that Falun Gong practitioners consistently received "the longest sentences and worst treatment" in labour camps, and in some facilities Falun Gong practitioners formed the substantial majority of detainees.<ref name="HumanRights">Human Rights Watch [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/china1205/6.htm V. Abuses Against Petitioners in Beijing] of report [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/china1205/ "We Could Disappear at Any Time"] December 2005</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=China Legalization |website=US Legalization |url=https://www.uslegalization.com/china/ |access-date=17 October 2019}}</ref> As of 2009 at least 2,000 Falun Gong adherents had been tortured to death in the persecution campaign,<ref>Andrew Jacobs. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/world/asia/28china.html 'China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong'], ''The New York Times'', 27 April 2009.</ref> with some observers putting the number much higher.<ref name="Jay"/>

Some international observers and judicial authorities have described the campaign against Falun Gong as a genocide.<ref>Samuel Totten and Paul Robert Bartrop ''Dictionary of Genocide''. (Greewood publishing group: 2008), p 69</ref><ref>''The Standard''. [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=1779&sid=4663428&con_type=1&d_str=20050921 'Rights lawyers look to UN over plight of Falun Gong'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017095220/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=1779&sid=4663428&con_type=1&d_str=20050921 |date=17 October 2015}}, 21 September 2005.</ref> In 2009, courts in Spain and Argentina indicted senior Chinese officials for genocide and crimes against humanity for their role in orchestrating the suppression of Falun Gong.<ref name="reutersflg">Reuters, [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-china-falungong-idUSTRE5BM02B20091223 "Argentine judge asks China arrests over Falun Gong"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203212405/https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/23/us-argentina-china-falungong-idUSTRE5BM02B20091223 |date=3 December 2015}}, 22 December 2009.</ref><ref>Genocide Prevention Network, [http://www.genocidepreventionnow.org/GPNSearchResults/tabid/64/ctl/DisplayArticle/mid/400/aid/151/Default.aspx 'Spanish Court Indicts Chinese Leaders for Persecution of Falun Gong'].</ref><ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/11/14/espana/1258230601.html La Audiencia pide interrogar al ex presidente chino Jiang por genocidio], 14 November 2009</ref>

====='''Organ harvesting'''=====
{{Main|Organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China}}
According to allegations which were made in 2006, the vital organs of non-consenting Falun Gong practitioners had been used to supply China's organ tourism industry.<ref name="orgharv"/><ref>[[Ethan Gutmann]] (24 November 2008) [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/824qbcjr.asp "China's Gruesome Organ Harvest"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115210040/https://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/824qbcjr.asp |date=15 January 2021}} The Weekly Standard</ref> In 2008, two United Nations Special Rapporteurs reiterated their requests for "the Chinese government to fully explain the allegation of taking vital organs from Falun Gong practitioners and the source of organs for the sudden increase in organ transplants that has been going on in China since the year 2000".<ref>[http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2008/05/09/united-nations-human-rights-special-rapporteurs-reiterate-findings-on-chinas-organ-harvesting-from-falun-gong-practitioners "United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteurs Reiterate Findings on China's Organ Harvesting from Falun Gong Practitioners"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512183828/http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2008/05/09/united-nations-human-rights-special-rapporteurs-reiterate-findings-on-chinas-organ-harvesting-from-falun-gong-practitioners |date=12 May 2015}}, ''The Information Daily'', 9 May 2008</ref>

Matas, Kilgour, and Gutmann have published three books in which they have alleged that organ harvesting is occurring in China.<ref name="Jay"/><ref>Geoff Lambert (10 April 2010) [http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/books-focus-appalling-yet-story-must-be-told-90459774.html "Book's focus appalling, yet story must be told"], Winnipeg Free Press. [http://bloodyharvest.info/2012/05/winnipeg-free-press-books-focus-appalling-yet-story-must-be-told Copy at bloodyharvest.info]</ref><ref>Rebeca Kuropatwa (19 September 2012) [http://www.jewishtribune.ca/arts-and-culture/2012/09/19/new-matas-book-reveals-transplant-abuse "New Matas book reveals transplant abuse"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124932/http://www.jewishtribune.ca/arts-and-culture/2012/09/19/new-matas-book-reveals-transplant-abuse |date=2 April 2015}}, ''Jewish Tribune''</ref> The [[Kilgour-Matas report]]<ref name="orgharv"/><ref name="theage060708">Reuters, AP (8 July 2006) [http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/falun-gong-organ-claim-supported/2006/07/07/1152240489760.html "Falun Gong organ claim supported"], ''The Age'', (Australia)</ref><ref name="Ottawa">Endemann, Kirstin (6 July 2006) CanWest News Service; ''Ottawa Citizen'' [http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=290fed94-d0c2-4265-8686-54ce75d08eca&k=34245 "Ottawa urged to stop Canadians travelling to China for transplants"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017095219/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=290fed94-d0c2-4265-8686-54ce75d08eca&k=34245 |date=17 October 2015}}</ref> stated, "the source of 41,500 transplants for the six-year period 2000 to 2005 is unexplained" and "we believe that there has been and continues today to be large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners".<ref name="orgharv">[[David Kilgour]], [[David Matas]] (6 July 2006, revised 31 January 2007) [http://organharvestinvestigation.net An Independent Investigation into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China] (free in 22 languages) organharvestinvestigation.net</ref> [[Ethan Gutmann]], who interviewed over 100 individuals as witnesses, estimated that 65,000 Falun Gong prisoners were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008.<ref name="Jay">[[Jay Nordlinger]] (25 August 2014) [http://www.nationalreview.com/sites/default/files/nordlinger_gutmann08-25-14.html "Face The Slaughter: The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, by Ethan Gutmann"], National Review</ref><ref>Viv Young (11 August 2014) [http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/slaughter-mass-killings-organ-harvesting "The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem"] ''New York Journal of Books''</ref><ref name="Slaughter">Ethan Gutmann (August 2014) [https://www.amazon.com/The-Slaughter-Killings-Harvesting-Dissident/dp/161614940X The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem] "Average number of Falun Gong in Laogai System at any given time" Low estimate 450,000, High estimate 1,000,000 p 320. "Best estimate of Falun Gong harvested 2000 to 2008" 65,000 p 322. Amazon.com</ref><ref>Barbara Turnbull (21 October 2014) [https://www.thestar.com/life/2014/10/21/qa_author_and_analyst_ethan_gutmann_discusses_chinas_illegal_organ_trade.html Q&A: Author and analyst Ethan Gutmann discusses China's illegal organ trade] ''Toronto Star''</ref>

===Political freedom===
The People's Republic of China is a signatory to the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]], but has not ratified it. Legally, all citizens of the People's Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status, or length of residence, except for persons deprived of political rights according to laws imposed by the [[s:Constitution of the People's Republic of China|CCP's Constitution]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Constitution of the People's Republic of China |anchor=Article 34}}</ref>

In Mao's China, the CCP openly [[political repression|repressed]] all opposing political groups. This behaviour is now reflected in the judicial system, and has evolved into the selective repression of small groups of people who overtly challenge the [[authoritarianism|CCP's power]]<ref>{{cite book |title=China's Future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat? |isbn=978-1-882577-87-3 |last1=Carpenter |first1=Ted Galen |last2=Dom |first2=James A |year=2000 |publisher=Cato Institute |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6Tb1IVqHfgC&q=Political+repression+China&pg=PA295}}</ref> or its [[people's democratic dictatorship]]. The most recent major movement advocating for political freedom was obliterated through the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Square Massacre]] in 1989, the estimated death toll of which ranges from about 200 to 10,000 depending on sources.<ref>[http://www.89-64.org/html/victims155.htm List of casualties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040410103228/http://www.89-64.org/html/victims155.htm |date=10 April 2004}}, [[Ding Zilin]]. Retrieved 21 May 2007 {{in lang|zh}}</ref><ref name="TE">Timperlake, Edward. 1999 (1999). Red Dragon Rising. Regnery Publishing. {{ISBN|0-89526-258-4}}</ref> In November 1992, 192 Chinese political activists and democracy advocates submitted a petition to the [[16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party]] to introduce political reforms. One of the six demands was the ratification of the Covenant. As a reaction to the petition, the Chinese authorities arrested [[Zhao Changqing]], proponent of the petition, and are still holding a number of activists for attempted subversion.

One of the most famous dissidents is [[Zhang Zhixin]], who is known for standing up against the [[Left Communism in China|ultra-left]].<ref name="Scarlet">Zheng, Yi. Sym, T. P. Terrill, Ross. 1996 (1996). [[Scarlet Memorial: Tales Of Cannibalism In Modern China]]. Westvuew Press. {{ISBN|0-8133-2616-8}}.</ref>

In October 2008, the government denounced the European Parliament's decision to award the [[Sakharov Prize|Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought]] to political prisoner [[Hu Jia (activist)|Hu Jia]], maintaining that it was "gross interference in China's domestic affairs' to give such an award to a "jailed criminal... in disregard of [the Chinese government's] repeated representations."<ref>{{cite news |last=Waterfield |first=Bruno |date=24 October 2008 |title=China furious at EU human rights award to 'criminal' dissident Hu Jia |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3249742/China-furious-at-EU-human-rights-award-to-criminal-dissident-Hu-Jia.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3249742/China-furious-at-EU-human-rights-award-to-criminal-dissident-Hu-Jia.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Although the Chinese government does not violate its people's privacy as much or as overtly as it used to,<ref>{{cite news |title=The long march to privacy |newspaper=The Economist |date=12 January 2006 |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5389362}}</ref> it still deems it necessary to keep track of what people say in public. Internet forums are strictly monitored, as are international postal mail (which sometimes is inexplicably delayed, or simply disappears) and e-mail.<ref name="autogenerated4"/>

Local officials are chosen by election, and even though non-Communist Party candidates are allowed to stand, those with dissident views can face arbitrary exclusion from the ballot, interference with campaigning, and even [[arbitrary detention|detention]].<ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[NPR]] |title=Tweeting To Electoral Victory in China? Maybe Not |date=14 September 2011 |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/09/14/140464168/tweeting-to-electoral-victory-in-china-maybe-not |access-date=15 October 2011}}</ref>

Freedom House rates China as a 6 (the second lowest possible rank) in political freedoms. In 2011, the organization said of the Chinese political leadership:

{{Blockquote|With a sensitive change of leadership approaching in 2012 and popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes occurring across the Middle East, the ruling Chinese Communist Party showed no signs of loosening its grip on power in 2011. Despite minor legal improvements regarding the death penalty and urban property confiscation, the government stalled or even reversed previous reforms related to the rule of law, while security forces resorted to extralegal forms of repression. Growing public frustration over corruption and injustice fueled tens of thousands of protests and several large outbursts of online criticism during the year. The party responded by committing more resources to internal security forces and intelligence agencies, engaging in the systematic enforced disappearance of dozens of human rights lawyers and bloggers, and enhancing controls over online social media.<ref>{{cite web |title=Freedom in the World 2012 |publisher=Freedom House |date=19 March 2012 |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2012/china-0 |access-date=2 April 2012}}</ref>}}

[[Jiang Tianyong]] is the latest lawyer known for defending jailed critics of the [[government]]. In the [[709 crackdown]] which began in 2015, more than 200 lawyers, legal assistants, and activists, including Jiang, were arrested ''and/or'' detained.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/another-chinese-human-rights-lawyer-is-going-to-jail/2017/11/20/5af09cbc-ce5d-11e7-8447-3d80b84bebad_story.html China jails yet another human rights lawyer in ongoing crackdown on dissent], 20 November 2017. ''[[The Washington Post]]''.</ref>

====Independence movements====
[[File:China autonomous regions numbered.svg|thumb|391x391px]]
The [[secession in China#List of secessionist movements in the People's Republic of China|independence movements in China]] are mainly contained within the Inner Mongolian Regions, the Tibetan region, and the Xinjiang region.<ref name="Hyer-2005">{{cite journal |last=Hyer |first=Eric |date=2005 |title=Pan Turkic Nationalism in Xinjiang: A Clash of Civilizations |jstor=41950451 |journal=Indian Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=17–32}}</ref> These regions contain people from ethnic and religious minority groups such as the Mongols, the Tibetans, and the Uyghurs.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/>

The Chinese government has had strained relations with these regions since the early 1910s, when the first president of the Chinese Republic, [[Sun Yat-sen]], suggested a plan to move a large number of Han people from Southeast China to Northwest China in an effort to assimilate the ethnic minorities that lived in the area.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> While Sun Yat-sen lost political power before he could enforce this plan, his sinocentric, assimilationist attitude was adopted by future leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]].<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> Chiang Kai-shek enacted educational policy that encouraged cultural assimilation and discouraged self-determinism until 1945, when Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist party became more lenient toward the various ethnic minorities.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> From this time until the establishment of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong, ethnic minorities experienced great independence from the Chinese government, with [[Mongolia]] becoming an independent state in 1921 and Xinjiang being named an autonomous region in 1955.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/>

Tibetan, Mongolian, and Xinjiang independence was severely restricted by the Communist Party in the 1950s under Mao Zedong, with the forced annexation of [[Inner Mongolia]], [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], and Xinjiang back into mainland China, leading to many protests and riots from the ethnic and religious minorities in the [[autonomous regions of China|autonomous regions]].<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> From this point onward, there has been a sustained outpouring of secessionist and independence movements from China's autonomous regions.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/>

Currently, the largest independence struggle is being waged by the Muslim-Turkic population of Xinjiang, which shares minimal cultural, lingual, and historical similarities with the Han population in China.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> While the Chinese government under Deng Xiaoping promised to grant some advantages to the population of Xinjiang such as practising affirmative action in universities, greater liberties with regard to China's [[one-child policy]], and increased government subsidies in the region, the government also discourages and restricts the Muslim-Turkic ethnic population from freely practising its religion, expressing its faith by wearing head scarves, fasting, growing facial hair, and building mosques freely.<ref name="Sautman-2012">{{cite journal |last=Sautman |first=Barry |s2cid=153771665 |date=January 2012 |title=Paved with Good Intentions: Proposals to Curb Minority Rights and Their Consequences for China |jstor=23216933 |journal=Modern China |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=10–39 |doi=10.1177/0097700411424563}}</ref> Furthermore, because of the advantages which the Chinese government grants to the people of Xinjiang, many Han Chinese are prejudiced against them, and their prejudice against the Uyghurs is bolstered by the widespread belief that the government unfairly grants preferential treatment to ethnic minorities in general.<ref name="Sautman-2012"/>

One noteworthy event is the Feb 1997 riots in [[Yining County|Yining]], a county which is located between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang, during which 12 independence movement leaders were executed and 27 others were arrested and incarcerated.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> Moreover, almost 200 Uyghurs were killed and over 2,000 more Uyghurs were arrested.<ref name="Hyer-2005"/> In [[2008 Tibetan unrest|2008]] riots broke out within Tibetan regions such as [[Lhasa]], and anti-Han "pogroms" were committed in [[Ürümqi|Ürümqi, Xinjiang]] in [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots|July 2009]].<ref name="Sautman-2012"/> In response to these riots, the Chinese government has increased its police presence in these regions<ref>{{cite journal |last=VAN WIE DAVIS |first=ELIZABETH |s2cid=153750017 |date=2008 |title=Uyghur Muslim Ethnic Separatism in Xinjiang, China |jstor=27821503 |journal=Asian Affairs: An American Review |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=15–29 |doi=10.3200/AAFS.35.1.15-30}}</ref> and it has also sought to control offshore reporting and intimidate foreign-based reporters by detaining their family members.<ref>{{cite news |title='A cruel tactic': Watchdogs denounce detention of US-based reporters' family members in China |last=Lai |first=Catherine |date=2 March 2018 |newspaper=Hong Kong Free Press |url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/03/02/cruel-tactic-watchdogs-denounce-detention-us-based-reporters-family-members-china/ |access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

====Political abuse of psychiatry====
[[Political abuse of psychiatry]] began to be practised in mainland China during the 1950s, shortly after Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China, and continues to be practised in different forms up to present day.<ref name="Munro-2005"/> Initially, under Mao Zedong, the practice of psychiatry in China saw legitimate improvements in the breadth and quality of treatments.<ref name="Munro-2005">Munro, Robin James. "A question of criminal madness: judicial psychiatry and political dissent in People's Republic of China" PhD. diss., School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), 2005.</ref> However, as time passed under the direction of Mao Zedong and the campaign of [[thought reform in the People's Republic of China|ideological reform]] was implemented, psychiatric diagnoses became used as a way to control and incarcerate Chinese citizens who didn't subscribe to [[Maoism|Maoist]] ideologies such as Marxism–Leninism.<ref name="Tobin-2013">{{cite journal |last=Tobin |first=J. P. |date=June 2013 |title=Editorial: political abuse of psychiatry in authoritarian systems |journal=Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=97–102 |doi=10.1017/ipm.2013.23 |pmid=30199973 |issn=0790-9667 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The main demographic of Chinese citizens being targeted and placed in mental asylums were academics, intellectuals, students, and religious groups for their capitalist tendencies and bourgeois worldview.<ref name="Ann-2003">Ann, Kent. 2003. "Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and Its Origins in the Mao Era Human Rights Watch and Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry." The China Quarterly no. 176: 1091. JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost (accessed 2 October 2017).</ref> The justification for placing those who didn't comply with Maoist principles in mental institutions was the belief that non-Maoist political ideologies such as [[capitalism]] caused extreme [[individualism]] and [[selfishness]], which contributed to mental disabilities such as [[schizophrenia]] and [[paranoia|paranoid]] [[psychosis]].<ref name="Ann-2003"/> &nbsp;Maoists justified their claim that anti-Communist beliefs caused mental imbalances by making a positive correlation between the wealth and class of a particular group of people and the number of "mentally ill" people within that group.<ref name="Munro-2005"/>&nbsp;

Political abuse of psychiatry in mainland China peaked from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s.<ref name="Munro-2005"/> During this time, Chinese counterrevolutionists and political dissidents were placed into mental asylums, where they were treated with psychotherapy (xinli zhiliao) resembling political indoctrination sessions.<ref name="Ann-2003"/> During this time, statistics indicate that there were more political activists being held in mental institutions than the number of rapists, murderers, arsonists, and other violent mentally ill people combined.<ref name="Tobin-2013"/> The human rights activist [[Wei Jingsheng]] was among the first to speak out about the misappropriation of psychiatry for political purposes in the winter of 1978; however, in response to his advocacy, he was imprisoned and subjected to involuntary drugging and beating by the Chinese government.<ref name="Ann-2003"/>&nbsp;

After the end of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s, the abuse of psychiatry for political purposes continually diminished until the 1990s, when there was a resurgence in politically motivated psychiatric diagnoses toward political dissidents and minority religious groups.<ref name="Munro-2005"/> During this more recent wave of [[forensic psychiatry|Chinese forensic psychiatry]], political dissidents and practicers of non-mainstream religions were sent to [[Ankang (asylum)|Ankang (meaning peace and health) hospitals]].<ref name="Munro-2002">{{cite book |title=Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and Its Origins in the Mao Era |last=Munro |first=Robin |date=2002 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-1-56432-278-4 |language=en |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ek8BtI3moPMC&q=the+ankang:+china's+special+psychiatric+hospitals+robin+munro&pg=PA117}}</ref> These hospitals, built to hold the criminally insane, are managed by Bureau No. 13 of [[Ministry of Public Security (China)|China's Ministry of Public Security]].<ref name="Munro-2005"/> Ankang hospitals have been the target of much scrutiny by human rights activists and organizations both inside and outside of China, and reports indicate inhumane treatment of patients inside these hospitals.<ref name="Munro-2002"/> Patients in these hospitals are forced to work at least 7 hours a day and are subjected to torture including acupuncture with electric currents, forced injection of drugs that are known to damage the central nervous system, and physical abuse with ropes and electric batons.<ref name="Munro-2002"/> Furthermore, reports by Chinese surgeons at these hospitals report on the use of [[psychosurgery]] on patients who were involuntarily placed in these hospitals to reduce "violent and impulsive behaviors".<ref name="Munro-2002"/> One of the most targeted groups of Chinese citizens to be placed in Ankang hospitals are the practicers of [[Falun Gong]], who have what is termed "evil cult-induced mental disorder" or "xiejiao suo zhi jingshen zheng'ai" by Chinese psychiatry.<ref name="Ann-2003"/> Over 1000 practitioners have been incarcerated in mental asylums across 23 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions.<ref name="Munro-2002"/>

One of the most famous cases of politically motivated psychiatric diagnoses took place in 1992, when [[Wang Wanxing]] was arrested for displaying a pro-democracy banner in Tiananmen Square.<ref name="Munro-2002"/> After Wang's arrest, his wife signed a statement confirming his mental instability, because police told her that doing so would ensure Wang's immediate release.<ref name="Munro-2002"/> However, Wang was instead placed in the [[Ankang (asylum)|Beijing Ankang hospital]].<ref name="Munro-2002"/> He was exiled to Germany in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title=In the grip of the Ankang |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 December 2005 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/dec/20/china.features11 |access-date=14 August 2019}}</ref>

The [[People's Republic of China]] is the only country which currently abuses psychiatry for political purposes in a systematic way, and despite international criticism, this abuse seems to be continuing as of 2010.<ref name="van Voren 2010">{{cite journal |author=van Voren R. |title=Political Abuse of Psychiatry—An Historical Overview |journal=Schizophrenia Bulletin |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=33–35 |year=2010 |pmid=19892821 |pmc=2800147 |doi=10.1093/schbul/sbp119 |url=http://www.gip-global.org/images/46/516.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726102504/http://www.gip-global.org/images/46/516.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref> Political abuse of psychiatry in the People's Republic of China is high on the agenda in the international psychiatric community, and has produced recurring disputes.<ref name="van Voren 2010"/> The abuses there appear to be even more widespread than in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s and involve the incarceration of petitioners, human rights workers, trade union activists, followers of the Falun Gong movement, and people complaining against injustices by local authorities.<ref name="van Voren 2010"/>

In August 2002, the General Assembly of the [[World Psychiatric Association|WPA]] was held during the [[WPA World Congress]] in [[Yokohama]].<ref name="van Voren 2009">{{cite book |title=On Dissidents and Madness: From the Soviet Union of Leonid Brezhnev to the "Soviet Union" of Vladimir Putin |last=van Voren |first=Robert |publisher=Rodopi |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-420-2585-1 |location=Amsterdam—New York |page=242 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tyDIKu8XsgcC}}</ref>{{rp|247}} The issue of Chinese political abuse of psychiatry was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly, and a decision was made to send an investigative mission to China.<ref name="van Voren 2009"/>{{rp|252}} The visit was projected for the spring of 2003, in order to assure that a representative of the WPA could present a report during the Annual Meeting of the [[American Psychiatric Association]] in May 2003, as well as at the annual meeting of the British [[Royal College of Psychiatrists]] in June and July of that year.<ref name="van Voren 2009"/>{{rp|252}} The 2003 investigative mission never took place, and when the WPA did organize a visit to China, it was more a scientific exchange.<ref name="van Voren 2009"/>{{rp|252}} In the meantime, the political abuse of psychiatry persists unabated.<ref name="van Voren 2009"/>{{rp|252}}

====Political prisoners====
{{Main|List of Chinese dissidents}}
The Chinese government has a history of imprisoning citizens for political reasons. Article 73 of China's [[criminal procedure|Criminal Procedure]] Law was adopted in 2012 and allow the authorities to detain people for reasons of "state security" or "[[terrorism]]". In this regard, detainees can be held for as long as six months in "designated locations" such as secret prisons.<ref>{{cite news |title=In China, the Brutality of 'House Arrest' |last=Myers |first=Steven Lee |work=The New York Times |date=25 November 2017 |via=NYTimes.com |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/in-china-the-brutality-of-house-arrest.html}}</ref>

The number of political prisoners peaked during the Mao era and it has been decreasing ever since.<ref name="Pei-1998">{{cite journal |last=Pei |first=Minxin |date=1998 |title=Is China Democratizing? |jstor=20048363 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=68–82 |doi=10.2307/20048363}}</ref> From 1953 to 1975, around 26 to 39 per cent of prisoners were incarcerated for political reasons.<ref name="Pei-1998"/> By 1980, the percentage of prisoners incarcerated for political reasons was only 13 per cent, and this figure decreased to 0.5 per cent in 1989 and 0.46 per cent in 1997.<ref name="Pei-1998"/> 1997 is also the year that the [[Chinese Criminal Law]] was amended to replace counterrevolutionary crime with crimes endangering national security.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dobinson |first=Ian |date=2002 |title=The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (1997): Real Change or Rhetoric? |journal=Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal |volume=2 |pages=24–25 |url=https://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/747/11PacRimLPolyJ001.pdf?sequence=1}}</ref>

During the Mao era, one notorious labour camp called Xingkaihu which was located in the northeastern [[Heilongjiang|Heilongjiang Province]] was operated from 1955 to 1969.<ref name="Wang-2008">{{cite journal |last=Wang |first=Willie |date=1 September 2008 |title=Discovering Xingkaihu: Political Inmates in a PRC Labor Camp |journal=East Asia |language=en |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=267–292 |doi=10.1007/s12140-008-9045-0 |s2cid=143713909 |issn=1096-6838}}</ref> During this time, over 20,000 inmates were forced to work on irrigation, infrastructure construction, and agricultural projects for the government while being subjected to ideological reform; a significant percentage of these inmates were incarcerated for being counterrevolutionaries and political dissidents.<ref name="Wang-2008"/> The conditions in Xingkaihu were so poor that many inmates eventually died due to [[malnutrition]] and [[disease]].<ref name="Wang-2008"/>

More recently, since the spring of 2008, the Chinese government has detained 831 Tibetans as political prisoners; of these 831 prisoners, 12 are serving life sentences and 9 were sentenced to death.<ref>{{cite journal |date=Feb 2011 |title=China holds 831 Tibetan political prisoners |journal=Tibetan Review: The Monthly Magazine on All Aspects of Tibet |volume=46 |page=6}}</ref>

In 2009 Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned for advocating democratic reforms and increased freedom of speech in [[Charter 08]].<ref name="Economist-2017">{{cite news |title=Liu Xiaobo, China's best-known political prisoner, has died |newspaper=The Economist |language=en |url=https://www.economist.com/news/china/21725041-government-scoffed-those-who-lamented-his-ordeal-liu-xiaobo-chinas-best-known-political |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref> In 2017 he died in prison from late stage [[liver cancer]] at the age of 61.<ref name="Economist-2017"/>

Other political prisoners include journalist [[Tan Zuoren]], human rights activist [[Xu Zhiyong]], and journalist Shi Tao.<ref name="CoFR-2017">{{cite news |title=Media Censorship in China |work=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref> Tan Zuoren was arrested in 2010 and sentenced to 5 years in prison after publicly speaking about government corruption as well as the poorly constructed school buildings that collapsed and led to the deaths of thousands of children during the 2008 earthquake in [[Sichuan]].<ref name="CoFR-2017"/> Xu Zhiyong was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 after gaining a significant social media following and using it as a platform to express his sociopolitical opinions.<ref name="CoFR-2017"/> Shi Tao was sentenced to 8 years after publicizing the list of instructions that the Communist Party sent journalists regarding how to report the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.<ref name="CoFR-2017"/>

====Pro-democracy movements====
Some people have campaigned against the one-party [[Communism|Communist]] rule in Mainland China over the years.

===Freedom of assembly and association===
The freedom of assembly is provided by the Article 35 of the [[Chinese Constitution]]. The Article 51, however, restricts its exercise: such right «''may not infringe upon the interests of the state''».<ref>{{cite news |title=The Constitution law of People's Republic of China |language=en-GB |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/cn/cn147en.pdf |access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-association-under-threat-new-authoritarians-offensive-against-civil-society/china|title=China|publisher=Freedomhouse|access-date=6 August 2019|date=13 November 2008|archive-date=5 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805214656/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-association-under-threat-new-authoritarians-offensive-against-civil-society/china|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Human rights activists such as [[Xie Xang]] fight for the rights of Chinese people by protesting, slandering the governments' names on social media, and by filing lawsuits. Xang has commented on the punishment he received for protesting, claiming that he was interrogated while shackled onto a metal chair, forced to sit in stressful positions for a set amount of time, and tortured physically and mentally. He also quoted his interrogators stating that he was told that "I could torture you to death and no one could help you."<ref>{{cite news |title='Your only right is to obey': lawyer describes torture in China's secret jails |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=23 January 2017 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/lawyer-torture-china-secret-jails-xie-yang |access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref>

===Freedom of movement and privacy===
{{See also|Chunyun#"Real name and ID" requirement for train tickets}}
In 2010, in response to [[Chunyun]] (increase in traffic movements due to [[Chinese New Year]]),<ref name="china-2021">{{cite web |title=Real-name train ticket system kicks off in China – China.org.cn |website=china.org.cn |url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-01/21/content_19278545.htm |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref> which has caused various problems with tickets prices (due to resale by speculative traders),<ref name="china-2021"/> a system similar to blogs-related [[real-name system|real-name identification system]] was introduced on nine railroad stations. It requires the transport companies to demand far-travellers to provide their name for their tickets. Several critics and media have raised concerns about its possible privacy violations and freedom of movement rights restrictions risks.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Truth Behind the Chinese Real Name System |website=english.visitbeijing.com.cn |url=http://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/a1/a-X9XN5C9346061B2E01116F |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref>

==One-child policy (1979-2015)==
{{Main|One-child policy}}
[[File:One child policy.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Government sign stating: 'For a prosperous, powerful nation and a happy family, please use birth planning.']]
The Chinese government's birth control policy, known widely as the one-child policy, was implemented in 1979 by chairman Deng Xiaoping's government to alleviate the overpopulation problem. Having more than one child was illegal and punishable by fines. This policy was replaced with a two-child policy in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=China one-child policy to end – CNN |date=29 October 2015 |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/29/asia/china-one-child-policy/index.html |access-date=15 January 2016}}</ref> In May 2021, the policy was further relaxed to a three child policy,<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-05-31 |title=China allows three children in major policy shift |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57303592 |access-date=2023-01-16}}</ref> and all restrictions were removed in July 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cheng |first=Evelyn |title=China scraps fines, will let families have as many children as they'd like |website=CNBC |date=21 July 2021 |language=en |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/china-scraps-fines-for-families-violating-childbirth-limits.html |access-date=2023-01-16}}</ref>

In 2005, [[Voice of America]] cited critics who argued that the one-child policy contributed to forced abortions, human rights violations, female infanticide, abandonment, and [[sex-selective abortion and infanticide|sex-selective abortions]], which are believed to be relatively commonplace in some areas of the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Researchers Urge China to Relax Its One-Child Family Planning Policy |publisher=Voice of America |date=26 September 2005 |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-26-voa6.cfm?CFID=17626358&CFTOKEN=49646296 |access-date=14 May 2006 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090825222316/http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-26-voa6.cfm?CFID=17626358&CFTOKEN=49646296 |archive-date=25 August 2009}}</ref> Sex-selective abortions are thought to have been a significant contribution to the gender imbalance in mainland China, where there is a 118:100 ratio of male to female children reported.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gender imbalance in China could take 15 years to correct |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 January 2007 |last1=Blanchard|first1=Ben  |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jan/24/china.international |access-date=19 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=China grapples with legacy of its 'missing girls' |website=[[NBC News]] |date=14 September 2004 |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5953508 |access-date=19 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=China vows to halt growing gender imbalance |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200701/23/eng20070123_343739.html |access-date=19 April 2008}}</ref> Forced abortions and sterilizations have also been reported.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=CNN |title=China abortion |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9806/11/china.abortion/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426093546/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9806/11/china.abortion/ |archive-date=26 April 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese victims of forced late-term abortion fight back |date=30 August 2007 |agency=Associated Press |last=Olesen|first=Alexa  |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5094395.html |access-date=30 August 2007}}</ref>

Chinese state-run media reported on 3 June 2013 that the city of [[Wuhan]] was considering legislation to fine women who have children out of wedlock, or with men who were already married. The fine was considered a 'social compensation fee', and has been sharply criticized for potentially exacerbating the problem of abandoned children.<ref>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |title=Unmarried Chinese mothers to be fined |date=3 June 2013 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10095242/Unmarried-Chinese-mothers-to-be-fined.html |access-date=11 April 2023}}</ref>

==Capital punishment==
{{Main|Capital punishment in the People's Republic of China}}

According to Amnesty International, throughout the 1990s more people were executed or sentenced to death in China than in the rest of the world put together.<ref name="Becker"/>

Officially, the death penalty in mainland China is only administered to offenders who commit serious and violent crimes, such as [[aggravation (legal concept)|aggravated murder]], but China retains in law a number of nonviolent death penalty offences such as [[drug trafficking in China|drug trafficking]]. The People's Republic of China administers more official [[death penalty|death penalties]] than any other country, though other countries (such as Iran and Singapore) have higher official execution rates.<ref name="wp">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=China's Capital Cases Still Secret, Arbitrary |last1=Fan |first1=Maureen |last2=Cha |first2=Ariana Eunjung |date=24 December 2008 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/23/AR2008122302795.html |access-date=16 August 2010}}</ref> Reliable NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights in China have informed the public that the total execution numbers, with unofficial death penalties included, greatly exceed officially recorded executions; in 2009, the [[Dui Hua Foundation]] estimated that 5,000 people were executed in China – far more than all other nations combined.<ref name="Duihua">Dui Hua Foundation, [http://www.duihua.org/work/publications/nl/nl_pdf/nl_41.pdf 'Reducing Death Penalty Crimes in China More Symbol Than Substance'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017095219/http://www.duihua.org/work/publications/nl/nl_pdf/nl_41.pdf |date=17 October 2015}}, Dialogue, Issue 40, Fall 2010.</ref> The precise number of executions is regarded as a state secret.

[[Government of the People's Republic of China|PRC authorities]] have recently been pursuing measures to reduce the official number of crimes punishable by death and limit how much they officially utilize the death penalty. In 2011, the [[National People's Congress Standing Committee]] adopted an amendment to reduce the number of capital crimes from 68 to 55.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110228192602/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/25/c_13750127.htm news.xinhuanet.com Capital crimes dropped]- Retrieved 6 April 2012</ref> Later the same year, the [[Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China|Supreme People's Court]] ordered lower courts to suspend death sentences for two years and to 'ensure that it only applies to a very small minority of criminals committing extremely serious crimes.'<ref name="ibt">International Business Times, [https://archive.today/20120715002031/http://m.ibtimes.com/china-executions-amnesty-intl-151891.html 'China suspends executions for two years'], 25 May 2011.</ref>

The death penalty is one of the classical [[Five Punishments]] of the [[Chinese Dynasties]]. In [[Chinese philosophy]], the death penalty was supported by the [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalists]], but its application was tempered by the [[Confucianism|Confucianists]], who preferred rehabilitation over punishment of any sort, including capital punishment.<ref name="Scobell">{{cite journal |title=The Death Penalty in Post-Mao China |last=Scobell |first=Andrew |journal=[[China Quarterly]] |date=September 1990 |pages=503–520 |issue=123 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000018890 |volume=123 |s2cid=154380257}}</ref> In Communist philosophy, [[Vladimir Lenin]] urged the retention of the death penalty, while [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] claimed that the practice was feudal and a symbol of capitalist oppression. Chairman Mao of the CCP and his government retained the death penalty's place in the legal system, while advocating that it be used for a limited number of [[counter-revolutionary|counterrevolutionaries]]. The market reformer Deng Xiaoping after him stressed that the practice must not be abolished, and advocated its wider use against [[recidivism|recidivists]] and [[corruption in the People's Republic of China|corrupt officials]]. Leaders of the PRC's [[list of political parties in the People's Republic of China|minor, non-communist parties]] have also advocated for greater use of the death penalty. Both Deng and Mao viewed the death penalty as having tremendous popular support, and portrayed the practice as a means to 'assuage the people's anger'.<ref name="Scobell"/>

The death penalty has widespread support in mainland China, especially for violent crimes, and no group in government or civil society vocally advocates for its abolition.<ref name="Scobell"/> Surveys conducted by the [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] in 1995, for instance, found that 95 per cent of the Chinese population supported the death penalty, and these results were mirrored in other studies.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:学者称死刑未必公正 政治家应引导民意废除 |date=3 April 2008 |work=青年周末 |language=zh |url=http://news.qq.com/a/20080403/000918_1.htm |access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref> Polling conducted in 2007 in Beijing, [[Hunan]], and [[Guangdong]] found a more moderate 58 per cent in favour of the death penalty, and further found that a majority (63.8 per cent) believed that the government should release execution statistics to the public.<ref name="Duihua"/>

A total of 46 crimes are punishable by death, including some non-violent, [[white-collar crime]]s such as [[embezzlement]] and [[tax fraud]]. Execution methods include lethal injections and shooting.<ref name="amnesty2008">{{cite web |title=China Reduces the Number of Crimes Punishable by Death to 46, but Keeps Drug Trafficking in the List |last=Plaçais |first=Aurélie |date=7 October 2015 |publisher=World Coalition Against the Death Penalty |url=http://www.worldcoalition.org/China-reduces-the-number-of-crimes-punishable-by-death-to-46-but-keep-drug-trafficking-in-the-list.html |access-date=27 September 2016}}</ref> The [[People's Armed Police]] carries out the executions, usually at 10:00&nbsp;am.<ref>{{cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Chinese applaud execution of former drug safety chief |last=Magnier |first=Mark |date=11 July 2007 |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/11/world/fg-execute11 |access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref>

Death sentences in post-[[Maoist]] mainland China can be politically or socially influenced. In 2003, a local court sentenced the leader of a [[triad society]] to a death sentence with two years of probation. However, the public opinion was that the sentence was too light. Under public pressure, the supreme court of Communist China took the case and retried the leader, resulting in a death sentence, which was carried out immediately.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gang leader executed after retrial |date=23 December 2003 |work=[[China Daily]] |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/23/content_292554.htm |access-date=16 August 2010}}</ref>

===Execution protocol===
The execution protocol is defined in criminal procedure law, under article 212:<ref>{{cite web |title=Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China – 1996 |date=17 March 1996 |publisher=[[Lehman, Lee & Xu]] |url=http://www.lehmanlaw.com/resource-centre/laws-and-regulations/general/criminal-procedure-law-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-1996.html}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|
:Before a people's court executes a death sentence, it shall notify the people's procuratorate at the same level to send personnel to supervise the execution.
:Death sentences shall be executed by means of shooting or injection.
:Death sentences may be executed at the execution ground or in designated places of custody.
:The judicial personnel directing the execution shall verify the identity of the criminal offender, ask him if he has any last words or letters, and then deliver him to the executioner for the death sentence. If, before the execution, it is found that there may be an error, the execution shall be suspended and the matter shall be reported to the Supreme People's Court for decision.
:Execution of death sentences shall be announced to the public, but shall not be held in public.
:The attending court clerk shall, after an execution, make a written record thereon. The people's court that caused the death sentence to be executed shall submit a report on the execution to the Supreme People's Court.
:The people's court that caused the death sentence to be executed shall, after the execution, notify the family of the criminal offender.}}

In some areas of mainland China, there is no specific execution ground. A scout team chooses a place in advance to serve as the execution ground. In such a case, the execution ground normally will have three perimeters: the innermost 50{{nbsp}}meters is the responsibility of the execution team; the 200-meter radius from the center is the responsibility of the [[People's Armed Police]]; and the 2-kilometer alert line is the responsibility of the local police. The public is generally not allowed to view the execution.

The role of the executioner was fulfilled in the past by the People's Armed Police. In recent times, the legal police force ({{zh|c=法警|p=fǎ jǐng|links=no}}) assumed this role.

Since 1949, the most common method of execution has been [[execution by firing squad]]. This method has been largely superseded by [[lethal injection]], using the same three-drug cocktail pioneered by [[capital punishment in the United States|the United States]], introduced in 1996. [[Execution van]]s are unique to mainland China, however. Lethal injection is more commonly used for 'economic crimes' such as corruption, while firing squads are used for more common crimes like murder. In 2010, Chinese authorities moved to have lethal injection become the dominant form of execution; in some provinces and municipalities, it is now the only legal form of capital punishment.<ref>Congressional-Executive Commission on China, [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_house_committee_prints&do 2010 Annual Report]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, 10 October 2010, p 98.</ref> The Dui Hua foundation notes that it is impossible to ascertain whether these guidelines are closely followed, as the method of execution is rarely specified in published reports.<ref name="Duihua"/>

===Criticism===
Human rights groups and foreign governments have heavily criticized the PRC's use of the death penalty for a variety of reasons, including its application for non-violent offences, allegations of the use of torture to extract confessions, legal proceedings that do not meet international standards, and the government's failure to publish statistics on the death penalty.<ref>Amnesty International, [https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/001/2011/en/ Death Sentences and Executions 2010], 28 March 2011, pp 19 -20.</ref> However, as acknowledged by both the [[Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Supreme Court]] and the [[United States Department of State]], the vast majority of death sentences are given for violent, nonpolitical crimes which would be considered serious in other countries.<ref name="Scobell"/>

The [[Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong]] has accused Chinese hospitals of using the organs of executed prisoners for [[Organ transplantation in China|commercial transplantation]].<ref>David Fickling, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/19/china.health?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 China 'using prisoner organs for transplants'], ''The Guardian'', 19 April 2006.</ref> Under Chinese law, condemned prisoners must give written consent to become organ donors, but because of this and other legal restrictions on organ donation, an international [[black market]] in organs and cadavers from China has developed.<ref>Ian Cobain, [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/13/medicineandhealth.china 'The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners'], ''The Guardian'', 12 September 2005.</ref><ref>David Barboza, [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/business/worldbusiness/08bodies.html 'China Turns Out Mummified Bodies for Displays'], The New York Times, 8 August 2006.</ref> In 2009, Chinese authorities acknowledged that two-thirds of organ transplants in the country could be traced back to executed prisoners and announced a crackdown on the practice.<ref>Peter Foster, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6094228/China-admits-organs-removed-from-prisoners-for-transplants.html 'China admits organs removed from prisoners for transplants'], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 26 August 2009.</ref>

====United States====
{{Main|Foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration}}
Running for president in 1992, [[Bill Clinton]] sharply criticized his predecessor George H. W. Bush for prioritizing profitable trade relationships over human rights issues in mainland China. As president, 1993–2001, however, Clinton backed away from his position. He did articulate a desired set of goals for mainland China. They included free emigration, no exportation of goods made with prison labour, release of peaceful protesters, treatment of prisoners in terms of international standards, recognition of the distinct regional culture of Tibet, permitting international television and radio coverage, and observation of human rights specified by United Nations resolutions. China refused to comply, and by summer 1994 Clinton admitted defeat and called for a renewal of normalized trade relations. However congressional pressure, especially from Republicans, forced Clinton to approve arms sales to Taiwan, despite the strong displeasure voiced by Beijing.<ref>Yuwu Song, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations'' (McFarland, 2009) p 63.</ref> In 2020, president [[Donald Trump]] praised China's use of the death penalty.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rupar |first=Aaron |date=2020-02-10 |title=Trump is running on criminal justice reform but just praised China's execution of drug dealers |website=Vox |language=en |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/2/10/21131863/trump-china-executions-drug-dealers |access-date=2022-10-02}}</ref>

===Wrongful executions===
An estimate of over 1000 people are executed every year in mainland China. Most of these executions are due to crimes that are seen as intolerable to the society within mainland China and the People's Republic of China. There are some cases that have been held wrongly.<ref name="York, Geoffrey 2005">York, Geoffrey. 2005. "Death-penalty debate grips China after wrongful execution." ''Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada)'', 2005. ''Biography in Context'', EBSCO''host'' (accessed 24 October 2017).</ref>

At least four people have been considered wrongfully executed by PRC courts.

*Wei Qing'an ({{zh|labels=no|c=魏清安}}, circa 1951{{spaced en dash}} 1984) was a Chinese citizen who was executed for the rape of Liu, a woman who had disappeared. The execution was carried out on 3 May 1984 by the Intermediate People's Court. In the next month, Tian Yuxiu ({{zh|labels=no|c=田玉修}}) was arrested and admitted that he had committed the rape. Three years later, Wei was officially declared innocent.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:魏清安案：法院枪口下还有多少冤案待昭雪？-法治新闻-中顾法律网 |publisher=News.9ask.cn |date=21 July 2010 |url=http://news.9ask.cn/Article/sdzz/201007/830981.shtml |access-date=13 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426193354/http://news.9ask.cn/Article/sdzz/201007/830981.shtml |archive-date=26 April 2013}}</ref>
*Teng Xingshan ({{zh|labels=no|s=滕兴善}}, ?{{spaced en dash}} 1989) was a Chinese citizen who was executed for having raped, robbed and murdered Shi Xiaorong ({{zh|labels=no|s=石小荣}}), a woman who had disappeared. An old man found a dismembered body, and police forensics claimed to have matched the body to the photo of the missing Shi Xiaorong. The execution was carried out on 28 January 1989 by the [[Huaihua]] Intermediate People's Court. In 1993, the missing woman returned to the village, saying she had been kidnapped to Shandong. The absolute innocence of the executed Teng was not admitted until 2005.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:滕兴善 一个比佘祥林更加悲惨的人-搜狐新闻 |publisher=News.sohu.com |date=2 April 2007 |url=http://news.sohu.com/20060214/n241816037.shtml |access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref>
*Nie Shubin ({{zh|labels=no|s=聂树斌}}, 1974{{spaced en dash}} 1995) was a Chinese citizen who was executed for the rape and murder of Kang Juhua ({{zh|labels=no|c=康菊花}}), a woman in her thirties. The execution was carried out on 27 April 1995 by the [[Shijiazhuang]] Intermediate People's Court. In 2005, ten years after the execution, Wang Shujin ({{zh|labels=no|s=王书金}}) admitted to the police that he had committed the murder. Therefore, it has been indicated that Nie Shubin had been innocent all along.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:南方周末 – 聂树斌案，拖痛两个不幸家庭 |publisher=Infzm.com |date=10 February 2012 |url=http://www.infzm.com/content/69228 |access-date=13 August 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104073751/http://www.infzm.com/content/69228 |archive-date=4 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="York, Geoffrey 2005"/>

==Torture==
Although the People's Republic of China outlawed torture in 1996, human rights groups say brutality and degradation are common in Chinese [[arbitrary detention]] centers, [[re-education through labor|Laojiao]] prisons and [[black jails]]<!-- caution: "black jail" is the wrong article -->. People who are imprisoned for their political views, human rights activities, or religious beliefs have a high risk of being tortured.<ref>{{cite web |title=Human rights: What is China accused of? |last=Ruz |first=Camila |date=21 October 2015 |website=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34592336}}</ref> Strategies of torture inside black jail include deprivation of sleep, food, and medication. The strategies are all quite inhumane conditions. In a specific case, a woman named Huang Yan was imprisoned for her political views and included the deprivation of medication. She had diabetes and ovarian cancer which required her to take medication. Tests have shown that the ovarian cancer have spread throughout her body.<ref>{{cite news |title=China 'eliminating civil society' by targeting human rights activists – report |last=Haas |first=Benjamin |date=16 February 2017 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/16/china-eliminating-civil-society-by-targeting-human-rights-activists-report |access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref> While the existence of black jails is acknowledged by at least part of the government,<ref>{{cite news |script-title=zh:北京昌平区政府承认"黑监狱"属实 拒透露细节 |date=3 August 2011 |url=http://news.china.com/zh_cn/social/1007/20110803/16684230.html}}</ref> the CCP strongly denies facilitating the operation of such jails and officially cracks down on them, leading to at least one trial.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=zh:安元鼎：北京截访"黑监狱"调查 |date=24 September 2010 |url=http://www.chinavalue.net/Finance/Blog/2010-9-29/482946.aspx}}</ref>

In May 2010, the [[government of the People's Republic of China|PRC authorities]] officially passed new regulations in an attempt to nullify evidence gathered through violence or intimidation in their official judicial procedures, and to reduce the level of torture administered to prisoners already in jails. Little is known, however, about whether or how procedures were modified in black jails, which are not officially part of the judicial system. The move came after a public outcry following the revelation that a farmer, convicted for murder based on his confession under torture, was in fact innocent. The case came to light only when his alleged victim was found alive, after the defendant had spent ten years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=Farmer released after serving ten years for murder as 'victim' turns up alive |work=The Sunday Times |location=UK |date=10 May 2010 |last=Lewis|first=Leo  |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7121815.ece |access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref> International human rights groups gave the change a cautious welcome.<ref name="NYTmay2010">[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/asia/01china.html China Bans Court Evidence Gained Through Torture], ''The New York Times'', 31 May 2010</ref>

Torture is reportedly used as part of the indoctrination process at the [[Xinjiang internment camps]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Uighurs accuse China of mass detention, torture in landmark complaint |newspaper=NBC News |date=9 September 2020 |author=Willem Marx and Olivia Sumrie |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/uighurs-accuse-china-mass-detention-torture-landmark-complaint-n1239493 |access-date=15 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=More Evidence of China's Horrific Abuses in Xinjiang |newspaper=Human Rights Watch |date=20 February 2020 |author=Maya Wang |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/20/more-evidence-chinas-horrific-abuses-xinjiang |access-date=15 February 2021}}</ref> The torture is alleged to include [[waterboarding]] and [[sexual violence]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kirby |first1=Jen |title=Concentration camps and forced labor: China's repression of the Uighurs, explained |website=vox.com |date=28 July 2020 |publisher=Vox |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/7/28/21333345/uighurs-china-internment-camps-forced-labor-xinjiang |access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=US 'deeply disturbed' by reports of systematic rape in China's Xinjiang camps |newspaper=The Guardian |date=5 February 2021 |author=Helen Davidson and Patrick Wintour |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/04/us-is-deeply-disturbed-by-reports-of-systematic-in-chinas-uighurxinjiang-camps |access-date=15 February 2021}}</ref>

==Ethnic minorities==
{{Main|List of ethnic groups in China|List of endangered languages in China|Ethnic minorities in China|Racism in China|Secession in China}}
[[File:Xi Jinping 2019.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Chinese Communist Party]] [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|general secretary]] [[Xi Jinping]] ordered to establish [[Xinjiang internment camps]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Xi Jinping's Xinjiang policy is a major change in China's ethnic politics |last=Stroup |first=David R. |date=19 November 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/19/why-xi-jinpings-xinjiang-policy-is-major-change-chinas-ethnic-politics/ |access-date=24 November 2019}}</ref>]]
There are 55 [[Zhonghua Minzu|officially recognized native ethnic minorities]] in China. Article 4 of the Chinese constitution states 'All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal', and the government argues that it has made efforts to improve ethnic education and increased ethnic representation in local government. Some groups are still fighting for recognition as minorities. In the 1964 Census, there were 183 nationalities registered, of which the government recognized 54.<ref>{{cite web |title=Refworld – World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – China: Overview |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |work=Refworld |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce5b23.html |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref>

Some policies cause [[reverse racism]], in which Han Chinese and even ethnic minorities from other regions of China are treated as second-class citizens in the region which is inhabited by a Han Chinese majority.<ref>{{cite web
|author=徐明旭
|script-title=zh:陰謀與虔誠﹕西藏騷亂的來龍去脈
|url=http://www.tangben.com/Himalaya.htm
|access-date=1 April 2008
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809221641/http://www.tangben.com/Himalaya.htm
|archive-date=9 August 2008
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|title=Colonialism, genocide, and Tibet
|author=Sautman, B.
|journal=Asian Ethnicity
|volume=7
|pages=243–265
|year=2006
|doi=10.1080/14631360600926949
|issue=3
|s2cid=145798586
}}</ref> Similarly, there are wide-ranging preferential policies ([[affirmative action]] programs) in place to promote social and economic development for ethnic minorities, including preferential employment, political appointments, and business loans.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=The impact of economic reform on China's minority nationalities
|author=Mackerras, C.
|journal=Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy
|volume=3
|pages=61–79
|year=1998
|issue=1
|doi=10.1080/13547869808724636
}}</ref> Universities typically have quotas reserved for ethnic minorities, even if they have lower admission test scores.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Preferential policies for ethnic minority students in China's college/university admission
|author=Tiezhi, W.
|journal=Asian Ethnicity
|volume=8
|pages=149–163
|year=2007
|issue=2
|s2cid=145513775
|doi=10.1080/14631360701406288
}}</ref> Ethnic minorities are also more often exempt from the one-child policy, which targets the Han Chinese.

Stern punishments of independence-seeking demonstrators, rioters, or terrorists<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Constituting the Uyghur in US—China Relations: The Geopolitics of Identity Formation in the War on Terrorism
|author=Christoffersen, G.
|journal=Strategic Insight
|volume=2
|year=2002
}}</ref> have led to mistreatment of the [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] and [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] minorities in Western China. The United States in 2007 refused to help repatriate five Chinese Uyghur [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo Bay detainees]] because of 'past treatment of the Uigur minority'.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Chinese Leave Guantánamo for Albanian Limbo
|publisher=The New York Times International
|date=10 June 2007
|last=Golden
|first=Tim
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/world/europe/10resettle.html
|access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref> In its 2007 annual report to the U.S. Congress, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China said the Chinese government "provides incentives for migration to the region from elsewhere in China."<ref>{{cite news |title=Uighurs and China's Xinjiang Region |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080100933.html?sid=ST2008080502593 |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party ([[paramount leader]]), said in April 2014 that China faces increasing threats to national security and the government could impose tougher controls on its ethnic minorities due to terrorist attacks like the [[2014 Kunming attack]].<ref>{{cite web |title=China's president hints at tougher controls on ethnic minorities |website=[[The Globe and Mail]] |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/chinas-president-hints-at-tougher-controls-on-ethnic-minorities/article18280931/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426134716/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/chinas-president-hints-at-tougher-controls-on-ethnic-minorities/article18280931/ |archive-date=26 April 2014}}</ref> In Xinjiang, the Ürümqi Motorized Vehicle Licensing and Testing Department has begun requiring all ethnic Uyghur and Kazakh individuals to undergo a [[background check]] before registering a vehicle.<ref name="RFA">{{cite news |title=Urumqi Officials Confirm Security Checks For Uyghur, Kazakh Vehicle Registrants |publisher=[[Radio Free Asia]] |last=Niyaz |first=Kurban |translator-first=Joshua |translator-last=Lipes |date=29 August 2017 |url=http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/checks-08292017154534.html?mc_cid=4e0eafd802&mc_eid=1f9d28130a |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831151309/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/checks-08292017154534.html?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4e0eafd802-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-4e0eafd802-29723437&mc_cid=4e0eafd802&mc_eid=1f9d28130a |archive-date=31 August 2017}}</ref>

In March 2019, the United States Department of State criticized mainland China for its human rights violations, saying the sort of abuses it had inflicted on its Muslim minorities had not been witnessed "since the 1930s".<ref>{{cite news |title=Pompeo: Human rights abuses in China worst 'since the 1930s' |newspaper=The Hill |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/433891-pompeo-human-rights-abuses-in-china-worst-since-the-1930s |access-date=13 March 2019}}</ref> The department's annual [[Country Reports on Human Rights Practices]] stated that the PRC was "in a league of its own when it comes to human rights violations".<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. says China's treatment of Muslim minority worst abuses 'since the 1930s' |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-rights/u-s-says-chinas-treatment-of-muslim-minority-worst-abuses-since-the-1930s-idUSKBN1QU23W |access-date=13 March 2019}}</ref>

==Forcible biometrics collection==
PRC authorities in western Xinjiang province are collecting DNA samples, fingerprints, eye scans, and blood types of millions of people aged 12 to 65.<ref>{{cite news |title=China collecting DNA, biometrics from millions in Xinjiang: report |last=Griffiths |first=James |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/12/asia/china-xinjiang-dna/index.html |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese authorities collecting DNA from all residents of Xinjiang |last=Haas |first=Benjamin |date=13 December 2017 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/13/chinese-authorities-collecting-dna-residents-xinjiang |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=China's DNA database in Xinjiang is in 'gross violation' of global norms, rights group says |last=Carbone |first=Christopher |date=13 December 2017 |work=Fox News |language=en-US |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/13/chinas-dna-database-in-xinjiang-is-in-gross-violation-global-norms-rights-group-says.html |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref> [[Sophie Richardson]], Human Rights Watch's China director, said "the mandatory databanking of a whole population's biodata, including DNA, is a gross violation of international human rights norms, and it's even more disturbing if it is done surreptitiously, under the guise of a free health care program."<ref name="HRW-2017">{{cite news |title=China: Minority Region Collects DNA from Millions |date=13 December 2017 |work=Human Rights Watch |language=en |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/13/china-minority-region-collects-dna-millions |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref> For the ethnic minority Uyghur people, it is mandatory to undergo the biometrics collection, disguised under physical examination. Coercion to give blood sample is gross violation of the human rights and individual privacy.<ref name="HRW-2017"/>

==Right to development==
In Chinese policymakers' perspective, the [[right to development]] is the primary and most fundamental human right.<ref name=":05">{{cite book |last=Meng |first=Wenting |title=Developmental Peace: Theorizing China's Approach to International Peacebuilding |date=2024 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=9783838219073 |series=Ibidem |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=61}} According to this view, poverty is the greatest obstacle to human rights because without the production and supply of material goods it is difficult to realize any other human right.<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=61}} As a means to reduce poverty, development therefore provides the necessary conditions for other rights.<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=61}}

In 1986, China voted in favor of the United Nations ''Declaration on the Right to Development'', through which that right became internationally established.<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=58}}

China was among the drafters of the 1993 [[Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action]], and its resolution -- "the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights" -- was adopted by the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]].<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=59}}

In 2016, China issued a white paper titled, ''The Right to Development: China's Philosophy, Practice, and Contribution''.<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=61}} The white paper emphasizes the view that the rights to development and subsistence are the primary, basic human rights.<ref name=":05"/>{{Rp|page=61}}

==Economic and property rights==
{{Main|Chinese property law}}
The [[National People's Congress]] enacted a law in 2007 to protect private property, with the exception of land. Nevertheless, according to ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' magazine, local Chinese authorities have used brutal means to expropriate property, in a bid to profit from the construction boom.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese Fight Property Seizures by the State |date=3 August 2010 |work=Der Spiegel |last1=Wagner |first1=Wieland |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,709691,00.html |access-date=9 May 2011}}</ref>

==Rights related to sexuality==
{{See also|LGBT rights in China|HIV/AIDS in China}}
In 2001, homosexuality was removed from the official list of [[mental health in China|mental illnesses in China]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Life Remains Difficult for Gays and Lesbians in China |work=Der Spiegel |date=8 March 2013 |last1=Schultz |first1=Stefan |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/life-remains-difficult-for-gays-and-lesbians-in-china-a-887674.html}}</ref> China recognizes neither [[same-sex marriage]] nor [[civil union]]s.<ref>{{cite news |author=Tania Branigan in Beijing |title=Gay rights China Beijing |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=25 February 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/25/gay-rights-china-beijing |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref>

According to the criminal law of the PRC, only females can be victims of rape, a [[rape of males|man who has been raped]] cannot make accusations toward either men or women of rape. However, the criminal law of the PRC's constitution in mainland China had been amended in August 2015. Thus, males can be victims of indecency, but the articles on the criminal law which are related to rape still remain unrevised, so male victims can only make accusations of indecency.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国刑法修正案（九） |url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2015-08/31/content_1945587.htm |access-date=1 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202111952/http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2015-08/31/content_1945587.htm |archive-date=2 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:刑法修改：猥亵罪不再限定女性 收买妇女儿童一律构成犯罪 |url=http://npc.people.com.cn/n/2014/1027/c14576-25915262.html}}</ref>

==Intersex rights==
{{Main|Intersex rights in China}}
[[Intersex]] people in China suffer discrimination, lack of access to health care and coercive genital surgeries.<ref name="bbkci2015">{{cite web |last=Beyond the Boundary – Knowing and Concerns Intersex |title=Intersex report from Hong Kong China, and for the UN Committee Against Torture: the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |date=October 2015 |url=http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCAT%2fCSS%2fHKG%2f22156&Lang=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=United Nations |last1=United Nations |last2=Committee against Torture |title=Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of China |location=Geneva |date=2015 |url=http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CAT%2fC%2fCHN%2fCO%2f5&Lang=en}}</ref>

==COVID-19 pandemic==
During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in China]], the Chinese government has censored online criticism of its [[Chinese government response to COVID-19|response to the pandemic]], including criticism of its [[COVID-19 lockdown in China|lockdown]] measures.<ref>{{cite web |date=2020-02-02 |title=China's reaction to the coronavirus violates human rights {{!}} Frances Eve |website=the Guardian |language=en |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/02/chinas-reaction-to-the-coronavirus-outbreak-violates-human-rights |access-date=2022-10-25}}</ref>

==Other human rights issues==
{{See also|Nanjing anti-African protests}}
Workers' rights and privacy are contentious human rights issues in China. There have been several reports of core [[International Labour Organization]] conventions being denied to workers. One such report was released by the [[International Labor Rights Fund]] in October 2006; it documented [[minimum wage in China|minimum wage]] violations, long work hours, and inappropriate actions toward workers by management.<ref>[http://laborrights.org/files/China%20Report%20Press%20Release101206.pdf Wal-Mart in China: Rolling Back Labor Rights] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225175204/http://laborrights.org/files/China%20Report%20Press%20Release101206.pdf |date=25 February 2009}} by [http://www.laborrights.org International Labor Rights Fund], October 2006</ref>{{Citation not found|date=July 2020}} Workers cannot form their own unions in the workplace; they may only join state-sanctioned ones. The extent to which these organizations can fight for the rights of Chinese workers is disputed.<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/china12270.htm |title=Overview of human rights issues in china |chapter=China and Tibet: Events of 2005 |date=3 January 2006}}</ref>{{Citation not found|date=July 2020}}

The policy toward [[North Korean refugees|refugees from North Korea]] is a recurring human rights issue. It is official policy to repatriate these refugees to North Korea, but the policy is not evenly enforced and a considerable number of them stay in the People's Republic. Though it is in contravention of international law to deport political refugees, as illegal immigrants their situation is precarious. Their rights are not always protected,<ref>{{cite web |title=North Koreans in the People's Republic of China |website=hrw.org |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/northkorea/norkor1102-01.htm}}</ref> and some are tricked into marriage, forced to engage in cybersex or prostitution, allegedly linked to criminal networks generating an estimated annual revenue of $105,000,000 US.<ref>[http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/Full%20Korea%20report%202005.pdf An Absence of Choice: The sexual exploitation of North Korean women in China] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214160120/http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/Full%20Korea%20report%202005.pdf |date=14 February 2006}} by Norma Kang Muico, Anti-Slavery International 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sex Slaves: The Prostitution, Cybersex & Forced Marriage of North Korean Women & Girls in China |publisher=Korea Future Initiative |date=2019 |location=London |url=https://www.koreafuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Korea_Future_Initiative-Sex_Slaves.pdf |access-date=22 May 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520134243/https://www.koreafuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Korea_Future_Initiative-Sex_Slaves.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2019}}</ref>

African students in China have complained about their treatment in China.

Their complaints largely ignored until 1988{{ndash}}9, when 'students rose up in protest against what they called "Chinese apartheid{{'"}}.<ref name="Robinson">Robinson, Thomas W. & Shambaugh, David L. ''Chinese Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice'', Oxford University Press, p. 315.</ref> African officials took notice of the issue, and the [[Organization of African Unity]] issued an official protest. The organization's chairman, President [[Moussa Traoré]] of Mali, went on a fact-finding mission to China.<ref name="Robinson"/> A 1989 report in ''[[The Guardian]]'' stated: 'these practices could threaten Peking's entire relationship with the continent.'<ref name="Snow">Snow, Phillip. "Third World Report: 'Chinese apartheid' threatens links with Africa", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 20 January 1989.</ref>

The United Nations reports that it has had difficulty in arranging official visits to China by UN Special Rapporteurs on various human rights issues.<ref>{{cite web |last=United Nations News Centre |title=China must urgently address rights violations in Tibet – UN senior official |publisher=United Nations |date=2 November 2012 |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43399&Cr=China&Cr1 |access-date=2 March 2013}}</ref>

On 9 September 2020, a global coalition of 321 civil society groups, including ''[[Amnesty International]]'', urged [[United Nations]] to urgently create an independent international mechanism to address the Chinese government's human rights violations. In an open letter, the organizations highlighted China's rights violations worldwide, including the targeting of human rights defenders, global censorship and surveillance, and rights-free development that caused environmental degradation.<ref>{{cite web |title=China: Global coalition urges UN to address Beijing's human rights abuses |website=Amnesty International |date=9 September 2020 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/china-global-coalition-urges-un-to-address-beijing-human-rights-abuses/ |access-date=9 September 2020}}</ref>

On 6 October 2020, 39 [[United Nations]] member countries expressed deep concerns over China's human rights violations in [[Xinjiang]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Tibet]]. The call was made by Germany, supported by Britain, Canada, the United States, many European Union member states, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haiti, Honduras, Palau, and the Marshall Islands.<ref>{{cite web |title=39 Countries at UN Express 'Grave Concerns' About China's Abuses |website=Human Rights Watch |date=6 October 2020 |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/06/39-countries-un-express-grave-concerns-about-chinas-abuses |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref>

A report published by [[Human Rights Watch]] in August 2021 documents the economic, social, and cultural rights violations resulting from the China-financed hydroelectric dam construction in northeastern Cambodia. Nearly 5,000 people have been displaced due to the dam's construction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cambodia: China's 'Belt and Road' Dam is a Rights Disaster |date=10 August 2021 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/10/cambodia-chinas-belt-and-road-dam-rights-disaster |access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref>

The World report 2022 by ''[[Human Rights Watch]]'' stated that the [[Chinese Communist Party]] under the leadership of [[Xi Jinping]] celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021 amid crimes against humanity in [[Xinjiang]] and the devastation of civil liberties in [[Hong Kong]]. In 2021 the Chinese government tightened ideological control and increasingly cracked down on free speech. The Chinese government also moved quickly to offer support to [[Afghanistan]]'s abusive Taliban-controlled government.<ref>{{cite web |title=China: Xi's 'New Era' Marked by Rights Abuses |website=Human Rights Watch |date=13 January 2022 |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/13/china-xis-new-era-marked-rights-abuses |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref>

==Position of the government==
{{Anchor|Counterarguments by the PRC Government}}The [[Government of the People's Republic of China]] has argued that its concept of '[[Asian values]]'<ref>{{cite web |title=Confucian claim to universal principles |url=http://www.eko-haus.de/menzius/universal.htm#_ftnref3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416030806/http://www.eko-haus.de/menzius/universal.htm#_ftnref3 |archive-date=16 April 2008}}</ref> requires that the welfare of the collective should always be put ahead of the rights of any individual whenever conflicts between these arise. Its position is that the government has the responsibility to design, implement, and enforce a '[[Harmonious Socialist Society#Political context|harmonious socialist society]]'.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Building harmonious society crucial for China's progress: Hu
|work=People's Daily |date=27 June 2005
|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200506/27/eng20050627_192495.html
}}</ref>

The People's Republic of China emphasizes state sovereignty, which at times conflicts with the international norms or standards of human rights. However, its concept of human rights has developed radically over the years. From 1949 to the late 1970s, the CCP focused on promoting the rights of the masses: collective rights rather than individual human rights. Deng Xiaoping said that the right of a nation, or sovereignty (''guoquan'') is more important than human rights (''renquan''), and right of subsistence (''shengcun quan'') is more fundamental than political freedom.<ref>Gu Chunde and Zheng Hangsheng, eds., ''Renquan, cong shijie dao Zhongguo: dang dai Zhongguo ren quan de li lun yu shi jian'' (Human Rights, From the World to China: The Theories and Practice Studies of Chinese Human Rights Today) (Beijing: Dangjian chubanshe [Party Building Books Publishing House], 1999), pp. 300–1.</ref> However, from the beginning of economic reforms in 1978 to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the CCP raised concerns for human rights in their domestic and international policies. In 1991, China officially accepted the idea that human rights were compatible with Chinese socialism, and in 1993 the state created the China Society for Human Rights Studies, which has represented Chinese positions on human rights in international forums, conferences, and media. China went on to sign two treaties – the [[International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights]] (ICESCR) and the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] (ICCPR) in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The ICESCR was ratified by the National People's Congress in 2001, but as of 2016, the ICCPR has not yet been ratified.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambassdor Wang Yingfan, Permanent Representative of China to UN, today deposited with the Secretary-General China's instrument of ratification for the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |website=Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN |url=http://www.china-un.org/eng/chinaandun/socialhr/rqwt/t26863.htm |access-date=20 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331025226/http://www.china-un.org/eng/chinaandun/socialhr/rqwt/t26863.htm |archive-date=31 March 2016}}</ref> {{as of|2013}}, the PRC had signed more than 20 international treaties on human rights.<ref>China: An international Journal, Volume 9, Number 2, September 2011(China and International Human Rights Diplomacy), pp.223–225</ref>

===Western human rights===
Those who agree with the Chinese Communist Party point toward what they call rapid deterioration in Western societies, claiming that there has been an increase in geographic, religious, and racial segregation, rising crime rates, family breakdown, industrial action, vandalism, and political extremism within Western societies. The European Union and the United Nations claim to be stopping these types of human rights violations, save for a few violations committed by some Western governments (e.g. the CIA's [[extraordinary rendition]] programme). The PRC holds the opinion, though, that many alleged negatives about democratic society are a direct result of an excess of individual freedom, saying that [[Chinese skepticism of democracy|too much freedom is dangerous]].<ref>{{cite journal
|title="Asian Values" and Democracy in Asia
|author1=Inoguchi, T.
|author2=Newman, E.
|journal=First Shizuoka Asia-Pacific Forum: The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region
|year=1997
|url=http://www.unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html
|access-date=4 February 2008
|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225110329/http://unu.edu/unupress/asian-values.html
|archive-date=25 December 2010
}}</ref> The PRC holds that these actions in Western nations are all violations of human rights. They say that these should be taken into account when assessing a country's human rights record. On occasion they have criticized the United States policies, especially the human rights reports published by its State Department. They cite the opinion that the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, has also violated human rights laws, for example during the invasion of Iraq.<ref>{{cite news
|title=China hits back at US on rights, says Iraq war a disaster
|work=The Age
|location=Melbourne
|date=13 March 2008
|last=Newey
|first=Guy
|url=http://news.theage.com.au/china-hits-back-at-us-on-rights-says-iraq-war-a-disaster/20080313-1z81.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416025245/http://news.theage.com.au/china-hits-back-at-us-on-rights-says-iraq-war-a-disaster/20080313-1z81.html
|archive-date=16 April 2008
}}</ref>

In United Nations bodies, China argues for a way of looking at the concept of universal human rights that differs from the Western view.<ref name="Univ Singapore-2022">{{cite book |title=CPC Futures The New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics |date=2022 |publisher=[[National University of Singapore Press]] |others=Frank N. Pieke, Bert Hofman |isbn=978-981-18-5206-0 |location=Singapore |page=177 |oclc=1354535847}}</ref> China's view is that a focus on political rights and values is a too narrow view of human rights, and should instead focus on economic outcomes, material well-being of people, and national sovereignty.<ref name="Univ Singapore-2022"/>

===Chinese definition===
Chinese [[state media]] has stated that human rights should encompass what its officials have labelled as "[[Chinese Economy|economic]] standards of living and measures of health and economic prosperity".<ref name="xinhuanet human rights"/>

===Measures taken===
In March 2003, an amendment was officially made to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, officially stating that 'The State respects and preserves human rights.'<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A57447-2004Mar14 China Amends Constitution to Guarantee Human Rights] By Edward Cody</ref> In addition, China was dropped from a list of top ten human rights violators in the annual human rights report released by the U.S. State Department in 2008, though the report indicated that there were still widespread human rights-related issues in the PRC.<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Drops China From List of top 10 Violators of Rights |work=The New York Times |last=Cooper |first=Helene |date=12 March 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/washington/12rights.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=U.S.+drops+china&st=nyt&oref=slogin8 |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>

In 1988, the People's Republic of China began direct village elections to help maintain social and political order while facing rapid economic change. Elections now occur in about 650,000 villages across China, reaching 75% of the nation's 1.3&nbsp;billion people, according to the Carter Center.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Democratic Village Elections A Sign of Progress
|publisher=The Carter Center
|url=http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc35.html
}}</ref> In 2008, [[Shenzhen]], which enjoys the highest per capita GDP in mainland China, was selected for experimentation, and over 70% of the government officials on the district level are to be directly elected (as of 2008).<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:深圳社区换届直选扩至七成 |language=zh |url=http://www.gd.gov.cn/govpub/zwdt/dfzw/200803/t20080320_44718.htm |access-date=6 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718220713/http://www.gd.gov.cn/govpub/zwdt/dfzw/200803/t20080320_44718.htm |archive-date=18 July 2011}}</ref> However, in keeping with Communist Party philosophy, candidates must be selected from a pre-approved list.<ref>{{cite web
|title=China Election Brief
|publisher=Amnesty International USA
|url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/2008-us-elections/china-election-brief/page.do?id=1551034
|access-date=6 July 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625051328/http://www.amnestyusa.org/2008-us-elections/china-election-brief/page.do?id=1551034
|archive-date=25 June 2009
}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|China}}
{{Div col}}
* [[Beijing Municipal Prison]]
* [[Black jails]]<!-- caution: "black jail" is the wrong article -->
* [[Boycotts of Chinese products]] may use some of the arguments in this article as their basis
* [[Censorship in China]]
* [[Chinese censorship abroad]]
* [[Chinese nationalism]]
* [[Concerning the Situation in the Ideological Sphere]]
* [[Cultural Revolution]]
* [[Democracy movements of China]]
* [[Dongzhou protests]]
* [[Drapchi Prison]]
* [[Ecological migration]]
* [[Empowerment and Rights Institute]]
* [[Han chauvinism]]
* [[Han nationalism]]
* [[History of the Chinese Communist Party]]
* [[History of the Kuomintang]]
* [[History of the People's Republic of China]]
* [[History of the Republic of China]]
* [[Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China]]
* [[Human Rights in China (organization)]]
* [[Human rights in Hong Kong]]
* [[Human rights in Macau]]
* [[Human rights in Taiwan]]
* [[Human rights in Tibet]]
* [[Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China]]
* [[International reactions to 2008 Tibetan unrest|International reactions to 2008 Tibetan protests]]
* [[Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China]]
* [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]]
* [[Labour camps in Tibet]]
* [[Laogai]], "reform through [forced] labor"
* [[List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party]]
* [[List of Chinese nuclear tests]]
* [[List of concentration and internment camps#People's Republic of China]]
* [[List of prisons in the Tibet Autonomous Region]]
* [[Lop Nur#Nuclear Weapons Test Base|Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base]]
* [[Open Constitution Initiative]]
* [[Penal system in China]]
* [[Protest and dissent in China]]
* [[Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950]]
* [[Qincheng Prison]]
* [[Racism in China]]
* [[Re-education through labour]]
* [[Secession in China]]
* [[Sinicization of Tibet]]
* [[Sinicization]]
* [[Sinocentrism]]
* [[Tangshan protest]]
* [[Xinfang]]
* [[Xinjiang internment camps]]
* [[Yan Xiaoling - Fan Yanqiong Case]]
* [[1987–1989 Tibetan unrest]]
* [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]]
* [[2008 Lhasa violence]]
* [[2010 Tibetan language protest]]
* [[2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin|40em}}
* "Country Cousins", ''[[The Economist]]'', 8 April 2000.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5040198.stm "Dalai Lama honours Tintin and Tutu"], ''[[BBC News]]'', 2 June 2006.
* "From politics to health policies: why they're in trouble", ''[[The Star (South Africa)|The Star]]'', 6 February 2007.
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{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
* Cheng, Lucie, Rossett, Arthur and Woo, Lucie, ''East Asian Law: Universal Norms and Local Cultures'', RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, {{ISBN|0-415-29735-4}}
* Edwards, Catherine, ''China's Abuses Ignored for Profit'', [[Insight on the News]], Vol. 15, 20 December 1999.
* {{cite book |last=Foot |first=Rosemary |title=Rights beyond Borders: The Global Community and the Struggle over Human Rights in China |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-829776-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/rightsbeyondbord00rose}}
* {{cite journal |last=Jones |first=Carol A. G. |title=Capitalism, Globalization and Rule of Law: An Alternative Trajectory of Legal Change in China |journal=[[Social & Legal Studies]] |volume=3 |issue=2 |year=1994 |pages=195–220 |s2cid=143746379 |doi=10.1177/096466399400300201}}* {{cite book |last=Klotz |first=Audie |title=Norms in International Relations: The Struggle against Apartheid |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8014-3106-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/normsininternati00klot}}
* {{cite book |last1=Knight |first1=J. |last2=Song |first2=L. |year=1999 |title=The Rural-Urban Divide: Economic Disparities and Interactions in China |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-829330-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Matthew D. III |title=The Dysfunctional Progeny of Eugenics: Autonomy Gone AWOL |journal=Cardozo Journal of International Law |volume=15 |issue=2 |year=2007 |pages=371–421 |issn=1069-3181}}
* {{cite book |last=Seymour |first=James |chapter=Human Rights in Chinese Foreign Relations |editor-last=Kim |editor-first=Samuel S. |title=China and the World: Chinese Foreign Policy Faces the New Millennium |publisher=Westview Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-8133-3414-1}}
* Sitaraman, Srini, Explaining China's Continued Resistance Towards Human Rights Norms: A Historical Legal Analysis, ACDIS ''Occasional Paper'', Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security, University of Illinois, June 2008.
* Svensson, Marina, ''The Chinese Debate on Asian Values and Human Rights: Some Reflections on Relativism, Nationalism and Orientalism'', in Brun, Ole. ''Human Rights and Asian Values: Contesting National Identities and Cultural Representations in Asia'', Ole Bruun, Michael Jacobsen; Curzon, 2000, {{ISBN|0-7007-1212-7}}
* Wang, Fei-Ling, ''Organizing through Division and Exclusion: China's Hukou System'', Stanford University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-8047-5039-4}}
* Zweig, David, ''Freeing China's Farmers: Rural Restructuring in the Reform Era'', M. E. Sharpe, 1997, {{ISBN|1-56324-838-7}}
* ''The silent majority; China.'' (Life in a Chinese village), [[The Economist]], April 2005
* China's Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change
* Anwar Rahman. Sinicization Beyond the Great Wall: China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

==External links==
*[https://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/archive.asp?go=090209 Review of China] by the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]]'s [[United Nations Human Rights Council#Universal Periodic Review Working Group|Universal Periodic Review]], 7 February 2009
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060103113708/http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/countries.cfm?c=CHN UN Human Development Report 2003 on China] by the [[United Nations Development Programme]]
*[https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41640.htm 2004 Human Rights Report on China] by the [[United States Department of State]]
*[https://freedomhouse.org/country/china Freedom House: China]
*[https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/china/ Amnesty.org – China]
*[http://www.hrichina.org/en Human Rights in China (hrchina.org)]
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