ADHRRF — One day before October 1, China’s National Day, hundreds of representatives from groups persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), along with Chinese human rights activists, gathered in front of the Dutch House of Representatives to express their dissatisfaction with the government’s China Strategy report released in May this year, in which human rights issue is not sufficiently addressed.
On September 30, in the debate on the China Strategy report held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Martijn van Helvert, a member of the Dutch House of Representatives for the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and its foreign affairs spokesperson, criticized the report because it doesn’t discuss the suppression of Tibetans, the persecution of Christians, the abuse and torture of prisoners, and the repression of human rights lawyers. Other MPs also requested to rewrite the human rights chapter in the report.
On the debate day, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), Free Uyghur, Amnesty International (AI), Association for the Defense of Human Rights and Religious Freedom (ADHRRF), The Church of Almighty God (CAG), and other groups demonstrated outside the House of Representative to accuse the CCP of suppressing and persecuting religious groups, voice their grievances to the China Strategy report, and urge the Dutch government to focus on China’s human rights issues.
Eduard Nazarski, Director of Amnesty International, delivered a speech at the demonstration. He stated that human rights have been the cornerstone of Dutch international policy for decades, and there should be no exception when dealing with China. There are massive violations of human rights in China, with Tibetans, Uighurs, Christian groups and Falun Gong members subjected to the CCP’s persecution. Human rights defenders have been silenced, Hong Kong is very likely to be detached from democratic guarantees, and China executes more people than all other countries in the world. If these human rights issues fail to be mentioned in the China Strategy report, human rights will no longer be pillars but only museum pieces for the Netherlands.
Mr. Nazarski called on the Dutch government, “Let’s take responsibility for a world where human rights and trade are equally important, a world where everyone is protected from arbitrary treatment and violence.”
A Christian of the CAG, a new Chinese Christian church, also made a speech on the scene, accusing the CCP’s long-term suppression and persecution of religious beliefs, and its criminal actions of trampling on human rights. Meanwhile, the Christian called for the solidarity of more groups to expose the CCP’s evil deeds instead of being deceived by the CCP’s lies.
The vice-president of Free Uyghur said in the interview that the Chinese government will not stop its persecution of religious beliefs and violations of human rights. They are now killing people openly and destroying people’s lives. The Chinese president extending tenure for life shows to the world that they do whatever they want and no one can stop them, which is very dangerous for the entire human race.
It was reported that Foreign Minister Stef Blok did not answer the repeated questions raised by MPs at the debate: Why are most of the persecuted groups not mentioned in the China Strategy report? MPs insisted that China’s human rights issues should be taken seriously and a new strategy be adopted.
