75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (October 1)

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (October 1), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) appealed to the German Federal Government to ensure better protection for members of Chinese minority groups living in exile. “The Federal Government should vigorously defend the rights of people living in Germany who were forced to flee due to repressive measures by the Communist Party of China. The Chinese government is doing everything it can to silence critics abroad. Chinese exiles, including many members of minority groups, are threatened, intimidated, or violently persecuted”, stated Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

“China should be not be allowed to bring its methods and models of repression to Germany. The Federal Government must try to contain Chinese influence in Germany. As Germany’s China policy is strongly governed by economic interests, it is all the more important that the principles of a rule of law, democracy, and humanity are upheld in our country”, the human rights activist stated.

“Although I am living in exile in Germany, I am not safe. The worst thing is that I cannot travel to China to visit my parents. I will probably never see them again”, stated human rights activist Lebin Ding, who has been living in Germany since 2012, in a talk with the STP. From his exile in Germany, Ding has been trying to help his parents, who are persecuted in China for being Falun Gong practitioners. “For me, October 1 is a sad day. My father is illegally locked up in prison, where he is most probably mistreated and forced to take part in brainwashing-sessions to disassociate him from Falun Gong. He is in acute danger, as he might become a victim of state-organized organ harvesting”, Ding reported.  

The human rights situation and the general situation of minority groups in Xinjiang (East Turkestan), Tibet, Hong Kong, and southern Mongolia are extremely worrying. The Chinese government has been oppressing the Uyghurs and other minority groups for years – committing crimes against humanity in doing so. Under the guise of “fighting poverty” and alleged measures of “distributing slack labor” in rural areas, they are brought to state-owned enterprises where they are submitted to forced labor. They are mistreated and intimidated. Also, religious freedom is severely restricted, and members of the meditation movement Falung Gong are suffering from systematic persecution. 

“The German Federal Government must protect these people and demand that all Uyghurs, members of other Turkic peoples, and all other illegally detained people will be released form the so-called ‘reeducation camps’ immediately”, Causevic said.

Human rights action in Berlin on October 1

As a means to draw attention to the disastrous human rights situation in China and the transnational repression by the People’s Republic, there will be a vigil in front of the Chinese embassy in Berlin – organized by the Tibet Initiative Deutschland, the World Uyghur Congress, Freedom for Hong Kong, and other human rights organizations. You are cordially invited:

Thursday, October 1, 2024,

From 4 pm to 5:30 pm,

in front of the Chinese embassy in Berlin, Märkisches Ufer 54