Category: Human Rights
Human Rights Watch’s Africa Advocacy Director Can’t Understand Why African Leaders Are “Shielding China Over Xinjiang”
Human Rights Watch Africa Advocacy Director Carine Kaneza Nantulya is puzzled as to why African governments are not doing anything to confront China on the mass internment of Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang. She noted in a post on Monday that it's especially ironic that African ...
Key Highlights From Wang Yi’s Six-Nation Tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi returned home on Sunday after wrapping up a five-day, six-nation tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey. Wang's visit highlighted the growing importance that Beijing now assigns to its diplomatic ties in the broader MENA arena and its aspirations to play a larger ...
Human Rights, Non-Interference and Trade at the Top of Wang Yi’s Agenda in Saudi Arabia
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off a week-long six-nation tour of the Persian Gulf and Turkey on Wednesday with a stop in Riyadh, where he met with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Relations between the two countries have ...
China Cranks Up the Campaign to Lobby African Stakeholders on Xinjiang
With Xinjiang now emerging as a core dividing issue in the increasingly acrimonious U.S.-China relationship, it appears that Beijing is leaning even more on its ties in Africa and other parts of the Global South as part of an effort to build a coalition ...
South African Retailers Under Pressure to Ensure Supply Chains Free of Xinjiang Cotton
South Africa's major retailers are under scrutiny from civil society groups to ensure their supply chains do not contain any apparel products that use cotton from China's Xinjiang autonomous region. There are well-documented concerns that Uyghur minority populations are forced to pick cotton by hand.
In Africa, Chinese Diplomats Actively Promote Their Side of the Xinjiang Story — Even in Muslim Majority Countries
While in the U.S. and Europe Xinjiang is a highly contentious issue, that's not the case in most of Africa, even in Muslim-majority countries like Chad, where Chinese public diplomacy is very active in projecting Beijing's narrative on the issue. SUGGESTED ...
China Launches Full-Scale Media Blitz in Africa to Counter Mounting U.S-European Pressure on Xinjiang
China's propaganda strategists launched a full-scale campaign in print, broadcast and social media to rebut allegations of genocide and widespread human rights violations in Xinjiang. The effort is especially noticeable in Africa where over the past 24 hours, Chinese diplomatic ...
Two Totally Different Reactions From the U.S. and China About Tanzania’s Recent Elections
The United States and China have issued starkly different assessments of last week's presidential elections in Tanzania. Incumbent John Magufuli declared victory with 84% of the vote, with some international observers reporting instances of fraud and voter intimidation.
China Takes Its Messaging on Xinjiang to Nigeria, the World’s 5th Largest Muslim Country
China appears to be increasingly confident about promoting its position on Xinjiang in countries that have large Muslim populations, like Nigeria. The Chinese embassy in Abuja on Tuesday posted criticism of U.S. and European accusations that Beijing is persecuting its Uyghur minority population.
Inspired by China’s Example, Nigeria’s Information Minister Wants to Regulate Social Media
Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, sparked widespread outrage on Tuesday when he called for the government to step in and begin to censor online content. "If we don’t regulate social media, it will destroy us," he told a House committee. "The ...
Nigeria’s Not the Only African Country Seeking to Impose Chinese-Style Restrictions on Internet Activity
The Chinese-inspired model of government control over digital communications and internet activity is becoming increasingly popular in a number of African countries. While no African country goes to the lengths that China does in regulating online behavior, states like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ethiopia are definitely employing ...
Conservation Group Reports “Appalling” Human Rights Violations Aboard Chinese-Owned Fishing Trawlers in Ghana
The London-based conservation group Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) published a damning report on Monday that details "appalling" human rights violations aboard Chinese-owned fishing trawlers that operate in Ghanaian waters. The report details extensive exploitation of local crew members by Chinese managers ...