Rights groups urge EU to prioritze human rights in this week's EU-China summit

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Several human rights and civil society organizations published an open letter urging the European Union to prioritize human rights in the forthcoming European Union (EU)-China Summit to be held in China on July 24-25.

"At the recent G7 meeting, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a “new China shock,” and urged that G7 members respond with greater cooperation, resilience and alternative approaches. We believe similar ambition should apply to the approach of the EU and its member states regarding the deepening human rights crisis in China," the letter reads.

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Despite the "EU’s longtime support to independent civil society and human rights defenders across China", the groups say that the "wholesale assault on human rights" has been continuing since President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2012.

"He [Xi Jinping] and other officials are confident in their impunity for widespread arbitrary detention, forced assimilation, forced labour and torture in China; and transnational repression, including in Europe. Chinese authorities not only refuse to comply with the vast majority of their international human rights obligations, they also seek to rewrite global human rights norms and weaken key international institutions."

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